From Mr P. Aquilina
Over the last 14 years, the Nationalist Party has presented the best individuals available who were prepared to give voluntary service to their particular localities in the administration of local government. That is what honest and effective politics is all about.
The government has done its part and since the local councils were set up in 1993, Lm134 million have been allocated and another Lm1.2million paid in salaries to seconded workers. Local councils have also received millions of euros from various EU schemes but unfortunately, due to lack of know-how and initiative, very few Labour-led councils have managed to work and obtain these EU funds. But villages like Gharb, San Lawrenz, Nadur, (in Gozo) and Valletta, Birkirkara and Mosta (the latter when under a PN administration) have shown and led the way. I sincerely hope more councils, Labour-led or otherwise, will follow.
If one had to analyse some of the councillors the Nationalist Party has produced to manage our localities in the past and the present, one finds that there is absolutely no comparison with those presented by the Labour Party, as these are individuals who propose themselves, or are handpicked for local elections and who unfortunately very often turn local councils into MLP clubs.
The Nationalist Party has no less than eight MPs in Parliament who at one time served on local councils – Minister Dolores Cristina, ex mayor of Swieqi; Parliamentary Secretary Helen Damato, ex Zurrieq councillor; Parliamentary Secretary Tonio Fenech, ex Birkirkara mayor, Michael Gonzi, ex St Paul’s Bay mayor; Robert Arrigo, ex-Sliema Mayor; Michael Axiaq, ex Birkirkara mayor, Clyde Puli, ex Qormi mayor, and David Agius, ex deputy mayor of Attard. This means that no less than 23 per cent of the present Nationalist Party MPs at one time or another served voluntary their locality as local councillors. A very big contrast to the Labour Party where the number of MPs who served as councillors is insignificant
The Labour Party manages to win local council elections by deceit and personal attacks on individuals; they work round the clock to sit on local committees like band clubs and sport clubs a year prior to local elections. Sometimes they lose every sense of political decency and play the dirtiest of tricks like they did last March in Mosta. They completely ignored the amount of work done in this locality by the Nationalist-led council, like the embellishment of the rotunda square, the construction of 40 streets, the building of public gardens and other work, and played unethical tricks. After over seven years approving the salary of a particular council employee, they waited until the last council meeting in February to bring their Super One cameras to film and show Labour councillors voting against the employee’s salary in that particular meeting, and using it as propaganda claiming the Nationalist-led council was wasting public funds.
This was dirty politics at its worst and the way Labour does politics. I promise readers that I will explain in full detail the Mosta local council case as soon as the investigations on this council being carried out by the Department of Local Government are completed.
The Nationalist Party has a number of candidates contesting the general election who currently hold various positions in local councils – mayors, deputy mayors and councillors; this is how the PN looks at the administration of our localities.
The Nationalist Party is also proud to have produced and is still inviting people of substance and integrity and more important, professional in their way, to manage our localities in local government.
The PN never had councillors investigated by the police for alleged fraud with matters connected to council affairs; we never had PN councillors renting garages to their own council; we never had PN mayors paying local clubs Lm4,500 for the local festa; we never had councillors fighting among themselves like Labour has in a number of localities. Councillors representing the PN respect and abide by the rules and regulations controlling local government. Above all, Nationalist councillors give priority to their localities and keep out of partisan politics. This is what they are instructed to do.
Pawlu Aquilina
Coordinator
PN Local Councils