There has been another exchange of statements between the Opposition and the Government in the never-ending saga about the composition of the executive of the Local Councils Association.

The Labour Councillors Section, which represents the majority of councillors across Malta and Gozo, met on Tuesday evening to discuss the current situation at the Association for Local Councils.

It said that after the elections on 11 March, the Labour Party had continued strengthening its majority both on a national basis and with regard to the number of mayors of whom it also holds a clear majority.

The section said that it was unacceptable that, notwithstanding a majority of 37-30 in mayors and a 44 councillor majority, the Labour Party still only had two members out of six in the LCA. It said that almost two months after the elections, the government has done absolutely nothing over the issue.

The section condemned this anti-democratic situation and called on the government to ensure that the majority of the people was reflected in the makeup of the LCA.

For its part, the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry said that the government had already sent the Opposition its draft amendment, which guarantees that whoever has the majority of councillors has a majority of members on the executive of the LCA.

This took place three days before Opposition leader Alfred Sant called on the Committee for the Regions of the European Union to assist the Labour Party in its campaign for a change in the composition of the executive of the association, the Ministry said in a statement.

The Ministry said that up to now, there had been no reaction to this proposal, and it had been omitted from the Opposition leader’s speech.

Contrary to what the Opposition was saying, government has always insisted that the vote of every councillor should have equal weight.

“Now that there is a majority of councillors from the Opposition party, this should be reflected in the executive of the association. The amendment sent by the government to the Opposition does exactly this,” said the Justice and Home Affairs Ministry.