The passing away of a President, as was Ċensu Tabone, made the headlines in the past week. It was a proper, sincere tribute to a great man. Having lived in Birkirkara Hill, St Julian’s, where my parents’ house still stands, only a few blocks away from the Tabones, the families knew each other very well

It so happened that due to marriage, a family link would be established later on in life. The praise showered on Ċensu was correct and truly fitting. He will surely be missed by his numerous family, and his loyalty was outstanding in every sphere of life.

By coincidence once again, the obituary of Ċensu Tabone, on The Times, fell on the same day of my father’s death anniversary, 19 years ago. Then people say that fate does not exist.

Ċensu’s passing away somewhat overshadowed the results of the local council elections, that have come and gone after a campaign that has left its victims. Last Sunday saw both parties go to the town where it registered wins. Mosta and St Paul’s Bay were both fertile ground for the campaign.

The analysis of the results, town by town, different in Malta and Gozo, with a local backdrop that pinpoints to various factors, is not an easy one. The voter keeps on speaking out louder, in a more intelligent way that one would dare to think. The voter thinks about the locality, the smaller picture, thus his choice of local councillor, and at a later stage at the bigger picture.

The fact that Labour could only muster a few extra votes, spread over half of Malta, must be worrying too. To my knowledge, the abstention vote does not exclude Labour voters who also, maybe in less numbers, shied away from the polls. Therefore, why didn’t the grumbling we hear about translate itself into a major increase in Labour votes?

On the other hand, the end result is the one that counts, and will count at the general election. Whichever party gets the most votes will win. On 10 March, the PN got less votes, so it lost on the day. Can it recuperate? The answer is a simple yes, if it finally acknowledges that it has a problem, and that proper action is taken by all. One person will not solve the issues; it must take a lot of people to do the job. The politics of exclusion has never, and will never, pay off.

On a council level, we saw massive abstentions in some parts of Malta. We as a people like voting, and having 40% of voters not expressing their wish is worrying. After 19 years of existence of local councils, did we treat councils correctly? Were the recent reforms, after all, successful? Should councils be allowed to move faster, as they do in Europe, or do they still have to rely on the central government?

Growing up is no mean feat. Councils today are turning 20; thus not in their inception anymore.

I do say thank you to the hundreds of people who stood for election; some did not make it, and should be thanked also, for their dedication and time spent.

The elected councillors are burdened by the weight of people’s vote, and this must be taken seriously. Their work shall be to the sole benefit of the residents in their locality. It is no mean job, and the obstacles are various, but their integrity must reign supreme.

Residents should not be overruled by the power of the council, as was the case of the circular bus in Sliema. Satisfactorily enough a very high exponent at Transport Malta confirmed that it will be given the green light once again. But why take it off in the first place in a dictatorial way?

Surely, and hopefully, there are ongoing internal discussions on the way people voted. Avoiding the issue, listening but not actually hearing what the people want, is political suicide.

The Berlin tourism fair, one of the largest European fairs, was held a few days ago. A great Malta Tourism Authority team, led by Minister Mario de Marco, met leading operators and the feedback all round was that of satisfaction.

After 37 years of attending this fair, I must say I was impressed by the whole MTA team. Air Malta people and other Maltese representatives were also present, unfortunately not for the whole duration of the fair, thus missing out on some events.

The tourism industry looks to be on the right track for Malta during 2012, bar any extraordinary events. I augur that the targets will be met, and the road easily done with cooperation from all sectors.

Robert Arrigo is parliamentary assistant in the Finance Ministry