Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi yesterday said that the Nationalist Party is satisfied with the results of the local council elections where the PN won back a majority in St Venera, Mellieha and Mqabba and increased the number of councillors.
In a press conference held yesterday morning at the PN headquarters, Dr Gonzi said that the PN has always obeyed the country’s wishes.
“For the past three years the MLP have made a fundamental mistake when they said that they have a majority because they won the local council elections,” he said.
The results of the local council elections cannot be applied on a national level – it is a fundamental mistake, said Dr Gonzi.
PN general secretary Joe Saliba said that the MLP had 52 per cent of votes while the PN had 46 per cent. Alternattiva Demokratika and independent candidates had 1.7 per cent of votes.
A total of 70 PN councillors and 73 MLP councillors were elected – an increase of 10 councillors for the Nationalist Party and a decrease of seven for the Labour Party.
The Nationalist Party won new seats in Kirkop, Xewkija, Zejtun, St Paul’s Bay and Marsa.
It also gained a majority in three towns it had lost three years ago: Mellieha, Mqabba and St Venera.
Mr Saliba said that the counting process started early on Saturday morning and continued until the early hours of Sunday morning.
“The electoral process is closed – the people have spoken on a national and local level,” he said.
The prime minister pointed out that since the general elections were held concurrently with the local council elections, a lot of work that was done locally was not appreciated.
He said that local councils, a system implemented by a Nationalist government, has taken great leaps forward and is ready to keep on moving ahead.
Dr Gonzi said that candidates should not enter the world of politics if they want to gain something. “Politics is a service to your country and that is the reason why it should be taken up,” he said.
The prime minister pointed out that having both general and local council elections on the same day did affect the turnout.
“Turnout makes a fundamental difference – those who chose not to vote at all sent out a clear message and those who took the decision to vote in the general elections but not for their local council also sent out a message,” said Dr Gonzi.
For the first time in Maltese and Gozitan political history, a majority of women were elected in the Nadur local council – out of five councillors, the PN elected two women and the MLP one.
“More needs to be done to increase the participation of women in society – something the PN will focus on,” said Dr Gonzi.
The prime minister said there might be a possible review of the present system whereby local council elections are held once a year.
“We need to work on it – we can’t have a system where the country is a standstill for two months every year,” he said.
The Nationalist government will also be working very closely with local councils on what the prime minister described as one of the “greatest challenges” – environment.