The Labour Party will continue its campaign of listening to the people as it prepares to contest the forthcoming local council elections in 23 localities. Labour leader Dr Alfred Sant presented the 19 candidates who will be contesting these elections on behalf of the party at a press conference held at the National Labour Centre yesterday.

Dr Sant said the party is working to make sure that the successes Labour enjoyed in local council administration over the past years will be achieved again.

Out of the 199 candidates, there were 21 per cent who under 30, 11 per cent are aged between 30 and 40, 25 per cent between 40 and 50, 25 per cent between 50 and 60 and 18 pecent are over 60. He said that this wide variety of age groups consolidates Labour’s message to the electorate.

The Labour leader said the press conference was the first in a series of events in a planned campaign to listen to the public. He said the Labour Party had always set out to keep its electoral promises both at a local and national level, adding that there would be an intensive series of meetings and discussions to come up with coherent plans and policies for every locality.

Dr Sant said the Labour Party perceives local councils as community building and co-operative experiences and not simply a succession of boundaries and roads. He said that all Labour councillors would endorse transparent decisions, equality and social justice so that the country’s resources would be distributed in a proper manner. Dr Sant concluded by wishing all candidates well and auguring that they would continue serving their locality in the best interest of the community.