Attempting to interpret the result of the local council elections as a victory on a national scale undermined the regional experience, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said yesterday.
"The Nationalist Party has always tried to humbly explain, in order not to elude anybody, that the local council experience is not valid on a national level. Whoever does this is mistaken," he insisted.
There were times when the Labour Party had proclaimed that its victory on a local level meant it had the absolute majority on a national scale but the results of this general election and council elections proved otherwise.
The turnout made a difference and Dr Gonzi felt it was crucial to listen to what the electorate had to say, especially in those cases where people chose to vote in the general election but opted out of casting their ballot in the local elections.
Dr Gonzi was addressing a televised press conference in the aftermath of the local council results, where the PN obtained 46 per cent (an increase of two per cent over three years ago) and the MLP garnered 52 per cent (a reduction of one per cent).
With all the PN councillors sitting behind him, Dr Gonzi looked relaxed now that the intensive campaigning was over and he could focus his energy on delivering his party's electoral promises.
He thanked all the candidates, irrespective of which party they represented, for offering their services to the country and contesting the local elections.
He recognised that these elections took place in the wider context of a general election, where national issues were more on the forefront, though a lot of work had been done on a local level.
"I want to publicly recognise all the good work that was carried out by these councils over the past years without differentiating between the political parties. It's an expression of appreciation for all those who worked to genuinely push forward their locality's interests," he said.
"I thank all those who participated - whether they were elected or not - because offering to give your contribution is already enough.
Politics is about providing a service to your country and those who see it as a means to gain something would have failed to understand the first thing about politics," he said.
Dr Gonzi warned against using partisan politics on a local level because the electorate clearly shunned this and every councillor had to work for the locality first and foremost.
Asked if there were plans to change the present system of having local elections every year, Dr Gonzi felt there should be a mature discussion on this.
"While there are advantages, there are also disadvantages, especially as the country seems to come to a standstill in the first two months of the year. What I do want to see is a leap of quality," he stressed.
Presenting the result, PN general secretary Joe Saliba said the party had a majority in 12 councils - including a new hold on Sta Venera, Mqabba and Mellieħa - and the MLP in 11.
The PN elected 70 councillors compared to the MLP's 73 - an increase of 10 councillors for the PN and a drop of seven for the MLP.
Dr Gonzi was happy to point out that, for the first time in the history of local councils, one locality, Nadur, had a majority of female councillors - three (two PN, and one MLP) out of five.
"This is a message we have to highlight. Despite the progress made, we still have a long way to go to boost women's participation," he said.
Asked about Alternattiva Demokratika's failure to elect one candidate in the 23 localities, Dr Gonzi said the electorate's message had to be analysed.
"The electorate had an interesting choice. They had the chance to differentiate on a local and national dimension but they chose not to make this distinction in favour of the smaller parties.
"I won't get into the analysis myself but in my opinion the electorate spoke in a categorical way: The people decide what space to give each party," he said.