Councillors have to look beyond partisan politics so as not to discourage young people from participating, a nine-panel debate agreed this afternoon.
The poorly attended debate, on Youth in Politics, was organised by Insite and TDM2000 as part of the Organisations Day on Campus.
All panellists are candidates in the upcoming local elections.
Young people, they agreed, were disillusioned with the current state of affairs and kept away from politics, in fear that they would be tarnished.
PL Mosta candidate Alex Muscat said that the time of tribal politics was over and young people wanted a breath of fresh air.
Another Mosta candidate, Robert Callus, for Alternattiva Demokratika, said there still existed many people who were partisan. Councillors, he said, needed to listen to residents.
AD Sliema candidate Michael Briguglio agreed. He criticised the two major parties for not encouraging cross party voting. "This is treating voters like idiots," he said.
PN Swieqi candidate Justin Fenech said cross party voting had to be earned. If councillors delivered they would earn the electorate's trust.
James Cassar, a PN candidate in Mosta, said there were plenty of opportunities for young people to take part. They just needed to be open minded. He reminded the young audience that politics affected everything and were not just about elections.
PL Kirkop candidate Antoinette Cefai said councils needed to foster greater sense of community and be more inclusive. Many organisations within localities still felt side-lined.
Young Dingli mayor Ian Borg (PL) said his council was a good example of one that looked beyond partisan politics. The fact that it was a youthful council was one of the reasons for this.
Another Dingli candidate, Ernest Mercieca, PN, agreed but said that when push comes to shove one did not see much of this talk about unity.
The candidates briefly talked about the differences, or lack of, between the two major parties.
Mr Borg said the difference was major. While the PN seemed happy with the way councils currently operated, the PL had sent each household due to vote a manifesto with the PL's overriding principles for all councils.
These stressed greater transparency, including through the presence of residents during the consideration of tenders and the streaming of meetings.
Mr Fenech said it was good to make promises but there had to be accountability. Candidates needed to be scrutinised to see if they delivered what they promised.
Mr Borg asked why Sliema PN councillor Julian Galea had not attended the debate despite being invited and wondered whether he was phobic towards PL candidates on the panel.
Mr Galea was recently was recently heard in a recording saying he paid his labour employees less than Nationalists. He was also exposed as having a phobia for Labourites. Mr Galea has since apologised.
Mr Callus said young people were discouraged by perceived corruption within politics. He gave the example of a big contractor who gave both political parties the same big donation. "What is this if not a bribe," he asked.
Asked if they agreed with party participation in councils, candidates from all parties said there was room for party participation.
Mr Fenech said independence came from the way politics were done and good examples existed. One such example was KSU.
Ms Cefai said a council made up of people all with different interests would create chaos.
Mr Callus said parties should not be abolished. For it was not parties which were wont, but the way one looked at politics.
Nadur PL candidate and university student Josianne Cutajar felt that there was plenty of room for improvement when it came to government consulting local councils.
She suggested that Gozitan local councils could band together and lobby government for a fully-functional and well coordinated bus service from Cirkewwa to University.