Labour leader Joseph Muscat said today that if the Prime Minister was satisfied with the outcome of yesterday's elections for administrative committees to run hamlets, he should take the logical decision and call a general election.

The PN won 63% of the vote in the elections, held in seven hamlets. Turnout was 35%.

Dr Muscat, who was speaking at a political conference in Marsascala this morning, said that the PL had achieved its targets in the elections.

He said that six of the seven localities where the elections were held yesterday were Nationalist strongholds.

Yet nine of the 10 PL candidates were elected and the PL won a majority of votes in Xlendi and Bubaqra. It also had its candidates elected in Kappara and Madliena, among other localities.

"If the Prime Minister is satisfied with the result, he should make the logical choice and call a general election," Dr Muscat said to applause.

Turning to the approval of the Valletta project permit by Mepa, Dr Muscat observed that while the government was saying that a roof was not needed over the theatre at the former opera house, at the nearby Upper Barakka, a transparent roof was needed for a recent reception.

If a roof was needed for a reception, what about the needs of the theatre?

Dr Muscat said the actions of Mepa showed that the Authority and the government were one and the same thing, despite what was said about reform.

Turning to the total blackout on Monday, Dr Muscat said that, once again, no one had assumed responsibility.

The people who should assume responsibility, he said, were those who had not taken the decisions needed for a stable power supply.

He said that the biggest victim of the power blackout was Malta's competitiveness.

Malta's competitiveness, he said, was also suffering from the government's lack of strategic vision, not least in education. For example, despite promises of a new, large campus for Mcast, nothing had happened. Decisions were being taken only with elections in mind.

"Students cannot be sacrificed on the alter of elections," Dr Muscat said. No students should be allowed to fall by the wayside, either because of lack of facilities, or because they could not afford their exams.

Dr Muscat in other sections of his speech said that no one had been held to account for the VAT corruption scandal.

Similarly, no one was held to account for the millions of euro lost on the Fairmount ship conversion contracts at Malta Shipyards where the shipowners were allowed to change their plans 750 times while Malta faced penalty clauses of €20,000 for every day that delivery was delayed. The contract was such, that it did not even cover the costs of the raw material, let alone labour costs.