A lot has been said and promised by all political parties with regard to the Sliema local council elections that will be held on Saturday.

People who blow their own trumpet and arrogant jesters are what we can well do without, thank you very much!- Michael Pisani, Sliema

For now it appears that these have fallen on deaf ears because the Sliema residents, such as myself, have come to expect a sweet nothing from one and all. Unless you are a bulding contractor with good connections or a businessman profiting from favours from within the klikka there is really nothing appealing for the ordinary resident, such as myself, to bother casting my vote.

Sliema has been a bastion of the Nationalist Party for decades and suffered greatly for being such during the Mintoffian era. Retribution was quick to return during the 1980s but, strangely enough, abated with the creation of the local councils. There is no doubt in Sliema residents’ minds and my own that Robert Arrigo did a fantastic job during his tenure as Sliema mayor, for which we, including myself, are all grateful.

But what has followed is a concoction of ignorance and petulence from PN, Labour Party and independent councillors alike – not to mention the allegations of corruption in some instances. This has caused the majority of Sliema residents to lose faith and trust in the people we have helped to forge their own livelihoods and success.

What Sliema residents expect is respect, not gratification. Potholes, construction sites, parking and caring wardens are the bare minimum one would expect to be regulated and rectified. People who blow their own trumpet and arrogant jesters are what we can well do without, thank you very much!

Notwithstanding the above, I would like to invite my fellow citizens to exercise their right to vote. If they would like to protest their lack of faith in the party of their choice then let them do that by voting for candidates they truly believe will make a difference, irrelevant of political credence.

I would like to believe that there is still hope to save a forgotten and abandoned bastion. I hope I am not alone!