As the local councils election campaign enters its final week, both major parties are hoping to post good results on the board. However, for Nationalist Party secretary general Joe Saliba, these elections are not the be-all and end-all, as the party is in government and has a country to run. He spoke to Gerald Fenech about various issues, including voter apathy, motivation and the PN’s general expectations for these elections.

Entering Joe Saliba’s new office, one is struck by the calmness and well prepared manner in which it is laid out, a reflection of the man perhaps. Plunging feet first into the argument, I asked him why the PN are running such a low key campaign for these elections and if this has always been the case.

“The reason is quite simple and I can immediately say that the Labour Party has not yet learnt the distinction between a local and a national campaign. The effects of the results of a general election are obviously much greater and this has to be accounted for. So it’s not just a question of a low key campaign but a campaign on a local level as it should be. This is based on home visits in localities that are based on what is happening in these localities. There is another distinct difference between both parties, the opposition has nothing to do while we have a country to run”, he said.

We then moved on to the fact that the Labour Party is in full election mode. Doesn’t this contrast with the MLP’s previous attitude where they refused to participate in the elections, I asked?

“I agree with you perfectly as local councils should never be politicised although one has to persuade voters to vote for that particular party. The campaign should not be excessively partisan. It was incorrect for Labour to state that political parties should not contest the election and then make a classic U-turn on the issue”.

This time, the Nationalist Party is fielding the largest ever number of candidates for a local election. I asked if this was just a coincidence or was planned, especially in certain localities.

“We always have the largest amount of candidates compared to other political parties in any election but this time it is correct that we have the largest number of candidates. We speak to a lot of persons and not everyone accepts but this time round, enthusiasm has increased and we had a larger response than usual. There are also specific localities such as Sliema and Birkirkara where we turned out a large number of candidates. Then you have Rabat which has been a shambles in the past years under Labour – we hope to regain that locality again this time round”, Mr Saliba said.

Some observe that Nationalist councillors are perhaps more laid back than their Labour counterparts with voter apathy on the PN side as another problem. How is the party tackling the latter issue and should there be more control over its councillors?

“First of all, we leave our councillors at liberty to act according their own conscience and only intervene when they go against the basic principles of the party. Labour does not work like that as in every council, they have what I can only term as a “spy” who attends council meetings and takes note of how their councillors vote. Secondly, we know that there is voter apathy in our ranks but that happens when a party is in government and occurs in every country. If you had to observe our results in the 1997-98 local council elections, we managed to gain at least 54 per cent of the vote. So this apathy is quite a natural phenomenon”, Mr Saliba explained.

The Nationalist Party in government is continuing in its policy of tackling important issues such as the deficit, infrastructural improvement and the proper spending of EU funds. Could it be that local councils are being kept in the shade?

“The country has to keep on functioning and the people are interested in having a democratic form of government with the least interference from politicians. If we had to stay gearing up for these annual elections, we would never take decisions. The government is on track with its ambitious programme as we have reduced the deficit to Lm55 million from a peak of Lm150 million and have also completed a number of arterial and residential roads. The Prime Minister is also engaged in a series of dialogues to consult on the best way to spend the E850 million which we managed to get from the EU. Obviously, local councils take a back seat in such a scenario but we will continue to support the elections and the councils themselves but never in precedence to the national interest”, Mr Saliba added.

What is Joe Saliba expecting as regards voter mobilisation and results this time round?

“I agree that we should mobilise the electorate but not at any cost. Conversely, the Labour party is in full election mode with candidates and MPs making home visits, but we are in government and people have to understand that we do not have all the time in the world for such tactics. It is also true that there are alternative methods of communication such as mail shots, e-mails and similar campaigns but these have limited effect. We don’t phone voters anymore to check if they have voted either. We will remain focused on the issues of a national nature such as the imminent announcement on pension reform but that does not mean that we will be abandoning local councils, far from it”, he said with a grin.

He also mentioned the situation three years ago where the local councils were fought alongside the EU Referendum.

“We polled 54 per cent in the referendum, while in local councils, we got just 49 per cent of the vote. How can you explain that?”.

Is the PN expecting a good result this time round so?

“I won’t try to make predictions but just look at past results, weigh in the factors that we spoke about and I suppose that you will get a pretty clear picture of what we are expecting”, Saliba concluded.