Updated 5.05pm with PN statement

The Labour Party officially presented just under 400 candidates for local council elections on Saturday, with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat emphasising the diversity in the PL team.

Speaking in Valletta and with rows of candidates on either flank, Dr Muscat highlighted the fact that the PL had candidates who were pensioners and others who have not yet turned 18.

24 per cent of the PL’s council candidates are women – up from 15 per cent last time round – with Dr Muscat saying that achieving gender parity in this respect was still some time away.

Around one-third of candidates are younger than 35.

The party had a good geographical spread of candidates, the Prime Minister said,
with a “drastic” increase in the number of candidates fielded in Gozitan towns and villages. 

The party's group of 398 candidates, he said, was the largest any party had fielded since local councils had been introduced.

Dr Muscat added that the PL would be presenting locality-specific electoral proposals in the coming days, with proposals “tailor-made” to each locality.

The Prime Minister and Labour leader thanked candidates from all political parties for having offered themselves for election.

PM's 'vote of no-confidence' in councils - PN

The Prime Minister's declaration that local councils were not a "super favourite" of his showed he had no confidence in councils and all candidates, the Nationalist Party said.

Such declarations dented the trust in councils and in the democratic process, the PN said in a statement. 

It was a Nationalist government that conceived local councils in Malta because it believed it was residents who should decide in the best interest of their locality.