With local council scandals dominating the headlines several times over the past weeks, Nikki Abela Mercieca asked people going about their Sunday business to share their thoughts on the matter.
Joseph Aquilina, 41, from Floriana
“What I have to say is that we have nothing to complain about with our local council. Our mayor is independent and the other councillors are equally divided between the parties. I think that politics should not come into local councils. If we had an uneven number of people from the political parties I think there would be problems.”
Maria Borg, 46, from St Paul’s Bay
“I haven’t followed what’s been going on with the other councils but ours in St Pauls’ Bay is doing nothing for local residents. We have a huge problem with parking in summer due to the number of people who move there during the holidays. To me, the local council is doing nothing except collecting money.”
Mario Schembri, 44, from Tarxien
“I haven’t been able to follow the scandal much due to work but I think that councillors are not rewarded for the work they do. If the government were to give them money they could do much more work. I think that, due to the way we work in Malta, politics should remain a part of local councils.”
Nigel Holland, 51, Floriana mayor
“I think that people who didn’t take much notice of what was happening in local councils now got involved in the debate, more than ever before. However, it has given rise to the idea that there is a lot of confusion in local councils. There are 68 local councils and the ones that are being investigated remain in the minority. I am an independent candidate by choice but even abroad politics is part and parcel of local councils. Perhaps what is wrong in Malta is that people are unable to choose outside their political party.
“I think that people’s trust will be lost but this happens whenever there is a scandal. It is a cycle, like what happened with the Church and the paedophile scandal. People’s trust is lost but, as I said, the cycle keeps turning and it doesn’t mean that the confidence won’t be regained.
“I think these things are surfacing because the system in local councils is so rigid. If the government had to use the same measure for itself, there wouldn’t be a deficit and there wouldn’t be so much corruption.”
Emmanuel Pace, 54, from Paola
“I don’t know what to think about what’s been happening. I haven’t lost confidence in local councils but I think that politics should not have a place there. People have lost as a result of what has happened and I think that some things need to change.”