Although the Labour Party is calling for the Local Councils Association to be dissolved and a new council elected to reflect the MLP's majority, the association's president has insisted that the present executive will serve its full three-year term.

Dr Ian Micallef told The Malta Independent that the executive was elected before the recent elections resulted in a convincing Labour victory that increased

the number of Labour mayors and councillors.

“The executive was democratically elected for a three-year term and we cannot go about dissolving it immediately just because election results are showing a new Labour majority of mayors and councillors. There have been discussions between both parties to see how the executive should be represented but these have stalled. We have now asked the government to implement the changes that it sees fit in the absence of an agreement,” he said.

However, Monday’s meeting of the association proved to be problematic for the PN-led executive because the two Labour members, Michael Cohen (Kalkara) and Claudette Baldacchino (Qrendi), presented a motion calling for the dissolution of the association and for fresh elections to be held.

Labour secretary general Jason Micallef told The Malta Independent that the meeting was eventually suspended as a gesture of goodwill with Dr Micallef proposing that the matter would be communicated to Justice and Home Affairs Minister Tonio Borg for a solution to be found.

“We are pushing for a new election for the executive so that its composition will reflect the Labour Party’s majority which is around 30 in terms of councillors and six with regard to the number of mayors. The association president took a positive step, in our opinion, but we will step up our actions if nothing is done and the situation remains the same,” Mr Micallef said.

Confirming that Monday’s meeting had been stopped, Dr Micallef also agreed that the executive’s composition should reflect the new Labour majority. However, the association should not become a stage for partisan politics because that was not the scope of local government.

“We always conducted affairs in a non-partisan manner so it is a pity that there are already signs that Labour wishes to start playing the political game by calling for the executive to be dissolved. We have no qualms holding an election, but only after the executive’s term expires as stipulated by the law,” Dr Micallef added.

Labour now has 37 mayors from a total of 68. The PN holds the remaining councils. Last Sunday’s result decisively swung the pendulum in favour of the MLP as the party won Pieta’, Msida, San Gwann and re-elected a majority in Mtarfa where the council had previously been hung.

Meanwhile, the Labour’s Councils section vice-president, Luciano Busuttil called for the dissolution of the Local Councils Association and for new elections to be held immediately.

Dr Busuttil said the association could not continue functioning when two members on the executive were Labour and four were Nationalist.

He said the executive’s composition should change to reflect the new Labour majority. He congratulated those candidates who were elected and thanked those who failed.