The latest Sliema local council demise holds a good lesson for all those councillors and candidates running for local council elections in March. That lesson is that the pre-electoral smear campaigns and slander will eventually translate into endless bickering and squabble once in office.

Candidates, irrespective of their political affiliation must remember that the local council functions as a unit and the reality is that they have to work with politicians from other parties for the benefit of the locality.

New candidates should keep this in mind when embarking on their respective campaigns. The

Sliema local council disaster meant that both the Nationalist and Labour parties came across as unprofessional and unworthy to the electorate.

Confrontational politics caused by the PNPL duopoly in some local councils will change if the dynamics are altered with the entry of the third party. For the sake of the locality, a tolerant approach will come a long way and foster a culture of compromise within the local council.