The local council elections spelled chaos for the Nationalist Party and sent the Labour Party into euophoria in what was mostly another bloody battle between the two main parties.

But one particular result showed that there is yet a ray of hope for this country.

We are, of course, talking about young Steve Zammit Lupi, who got elected on the first count in the Zebbug (Malta) local council.

Zammit Lupi received 947 first-count votes, easily surpassing the quota for the locality.

Almost 8,000 people voted in Zebbug, which means that Zammit Lupi received almost an eighth of first-count votes.

On average, he received double the votes received by Nationalist Party candidates and he had the third best result in the locality.

A former media colleague, Steve is also an avid environmentalist and is highly active in the Bicycle Advocacy Group.He brought fresh ideas to the table, and it worked.

Steve had told The Malta Independent last month that he wanted to contest independently to work for the common good of the locality without the shackles of partisan politics.

Speaking to this newspaper seconds after the result was out, ZammitLupi said he was surprised as he had not expected such a positive result. He definitely did not expect to be elected on the first count – seeing that the two main political parties hold a monopoly over elections in this country – but he pulled it off nonetheless, and showed others how it’s done.

“I think that’s a very positive and fresh approach that we need in Malta, so hopefully it can send a message to the rest of the country that we can do politics outside a two-party system”, he said.

We could not agree more with this statement and fully agree that elections, at least the ones for local councils, should be set free of the grip of partisan politics. So much time is wasted on arguments between Nationalist and Labour councillors – arguments that are often only related to party lines and the division and polarity that exists in mostly red and blue Malta.

If that time is instead used on actual council work, our localities would be much safer, cleaner and greener than they are now.

Steve Zammit Lupi has shown us that this can be done. This is the start and we should not stop now. We have said it before and we will say it again: we are all for youngsters taking part in politics and civic duties, but not the blinkered partisan kind.

Instead of brainwashing our youths into thinking red and blue, we should encourage teenagers to follow Zammit Lupi’s example and look at politics in a different way – as a means of bringing positive change to this country without being shackled by party politics.

The Zebbug election result showed that there is a thirst for such candidates – people who show competence without being attached to a party – and this should serve as encouragement for other youths to follow in his footsteps.