There are local councils that work hard to improve their locality, and there are others whose work is limited to run-of-the-mill activities. Nothing special about that: it happens in all aspects of life.

The concept of local government was introduced in Malta 13 years ago, when the first elections were held. Today, we have 68 local councils – 54 in Malta and 14 in Gozo – their size varying according to the population of the town or village they represent.

Some might argue that there are too many local councils for such a small country like Malta, but it is also true that every town is proud of its particular heritage and history. What would have happened if one or more villages had been linked to others when the boundaries were established in 1993?

The Local Councils Act of 1993 was revised in 1999 and, two years later, the system of local government was entrenched in the Constitution, giving local government a much stronger basis and political meaning.

The concept behind the setting up of local council was immediately politicised from day one. The Malta Labour Party initially decided not to become involved, even though candidates with a Labour background did contest elections and when the Labour Party decided to take part, some of these went on to represent the party.

The participation of political parties in local council elections has no doubt increased the political sentiment among the public now that we have a mini-election – for one-third of the population – every year.

The results in local council elections are not strong indicators of what is likely to happen in general elections. This is because there is a much lower turnout when local council elections are not held concurrently with a general election or a European Parliament election, as was the case in 2004.

Some people also feel more inclined to vote for a candidate who is not representing the party they normally support in general elections, either because they want to send a message to their own party or because they really believe in the capabilities of that particular candidate.

However, political parties still give a lot of importance to local council elections because, ultimately, the way an election swings or the message that is passed on by voters and non-voters, do give the parties an idea of what the people are thinking at that particular time.

What is unhealthy is the way the political parties approach local council elections, and we expect more of this in the coming weeks before the next election in March.

This is because we will soon start hearing the Nationalist Party declaring what successes have been achieved by councils led by a PN majority, simultaneously playing down the activities of councils led by the MLP. The same will happen from the MLP side, as the party tries to push its “own” councils and criticises those that have a Nationalist majority.

And this is wrong.

For the PN, “its” councils have worked perfectly well while those led by the MLP have been hopeless. For the MLP, it is the other way round. As a matter of fact, most of the councils do work hard to improve their locality, whether they have a Nationalist or Labour majority.

The success or otherwise of a three-year term does not really depend on which party the majority of councillors represent, but whether these councillors really work hard. It depends on the willingness of each and every councillor who is elected to give his or her best to the locality. There are, unfortunately, some councils that work on two or three pistons, rather than five, seven, nine or even more.

It is this that the political parties should see to when they present their list of candidates. And it is this that the voters need to look at when they go to the polls in March.