In a week’s time, half of Malta will be asked to vote to elect 35 local councils.

Over the past weeks, we have had both major political parties taking a different approach. The Labour Party has taken matters seriously – perhaps too seriously – and embarked on a fully-fledged campaign that is having leader Joseph Muscat visiting one locality after another in a bid to garner support.

What has stood out, however, is that he is going to places where Labour has a majority, and where it is clear that it will still have a majority when the votes are counted next week. The PL has avoided the other councils as if they do not exist, as if they do not have any relevance for them. It’s as if the PL does not care for localities where it does not, and will not have, power.

At the other end, the Nationalist Party has been very quiet – perhaps too quiet. It could be that it saved its energies for the leadership contest, which last Saturday confirmed Lawrence Gonzi as the leader with a staggering 96.5% majority. But the PN has always given a limited attention to local councils, preferring to concentrate on the general election.

Unlike his political rival, Dr Gonzi has not been out and about in the various localities. He has been to a few PN clubs on Sunday mornings in localities where there will be an election, but this cannot be likened to an election campaign.

What has stood out – in a negative way – in this campaign is that both sides have been trying their best (and will continue to do so until Thursday) to bring out the bad side of local councils. The PN and PL media have been exposing what they say is one scandal after another involving councils of the opposing party, and defending the councils led by a mayor elected on their party’s behalf.

Some stories should have barely made the news, and many have been exaggerated to such an extent that they were made to appear worse than Watergate. These items may have gone down well with diehard supporters, but are dismissed lightly, if not ignored, by the thinkers, or floating voters.

We do not think that local councils should be used in this way. Since their introduction 20 years ago, most of them have worked hard for their locality. They have made a difference for the residents. But too often they have been used as a political football to throw bad light on the adversary.