The Labour Party will be fielding 133 local council candidates for the June 6 election - eight more than in 2006 and the same number as contesting on the Nationalist Party ticket.

Of these, 27 are women and 42 are youths, with the youngest being 20, Labour leader Joseph Muscat said.

The candidates are a "coalition" of lawyers, notaries, architects, doctors, teachers, students, self-employed, factory workers, middle class, housewives and pensioners.

Their main aim will be to defend people from "the system" and remain close to their needs, Dr Muscat said.

He warned that this election "round" traditionally favoured the Nationalist Party but he noted a number of success stories of local councils run by Labour majorities, namely in Msida, Rabat, Tarxien and Żabbar.

He spoke about the resurfacing of roads, the building of day care centres, the embellishment of pavements and the involvement of youngsters.

"We learnt from mistakes and our councillors are ready to serve," Dr Muscat said.

He added that in the last five years, from 34 councils to have gained EU funding, 20 were of a Labour majority.

Local council elections are being held in 23 localities on the day of the European Parliament elections.