Every year, for a couple of months leading up to the second Saturday in March, this country - or at any rate a third of it - goes into election mode.
The two major parties are fielding well over 100 candidates each in this year's elections being held in 17 localities in Malta and five in Gozo. Alternattiva Demokratika has seven candidates; there are also a few independents. As such, party politics are bound to take centre stage in what should be elections to determine the day-to-day running of localities.
The result therefore will not only be a reflection of the way residents feel about how their outgoing council has performed or whether the opposing party or parties can do a better job of it, but also on how the central government is faring - particularly with the general election less than a year away.
Local councils in Malta, though set up almost 14 years ago, are still in their infancy, relatively speaking. The men and women who offer themselves for election do so, basically, because they have the interests of their locality at heart. They are all unpaid volunteers (except the mayor, who receives a small honorarium) but some residents expect them to be at their beck and call and to solve minor and major problems overnight.
Local councils in Malta do not have the power to raise revenue except indirectly, and - bar revenue from wardens' fines - rely entirely on government handouts worked out according to area and size of population. Some councils use their resources more efficiently than others; some take more and better initiatives than others. A few take totally mistaken decisions.
Yet the local council experience has been a positive one, on the whole. It has generated a sense of civic commitment, and it has given residents a greater say in the running of their locality.
Come every March, Opposition Leader Alfred Sant comes out with "percentage" assessments of how local councils performed. Invariably, according to him, Labour-led local councils outperform Nationalist-dominated ones.
The truth is that some Labour-led councils have indeed performed very well, but the same could be said of some Nationalist-run councils. Naturally, the obverse is true as well. And in some cases, the contribution of AD and independent councillors has been decisive.
A true gentleman
We feel it is our duty to salute Major Albert Edward Abela, who died on Thursday at the age of 74, after a long illness which he bore - and this is no cliché - with Christian fortitude. Albert was a true gentleman in the full sense of the term, modest and unassuming, always guided by a sense of honour and loyalty, abiding by a professional code of conduct which was part and parcel of his military training and career.
For 33 years, from 1968 to 2001, Albert compiled the "Sunday Quiz" for the delectation of readers of this newspaper. Week in, week out he tracked down information on the widest possible range of subjects, foremost among them Melitensia, which he loved. He would ensure the correctness of the information he gave by consulting not just one reliable source, but two, or even three. He also started the weekly "Fifty years ago" and the daily "Half a Century Ago" (in The Times), which he continued to compile until a few years ago, before the onset of his illness.
Albert was painstaking in his writing and a meticulous researcher. His forte was history, in particular the British period in Malta, and he produced a number of books - written in impeccable English - dedicated to Governors of Malta, prominent Maltese in the 19th and 20th centuries, and recipients of the George Cross and other awards for gallantry or service.
For some 30 years he also chose Nativity paintings in Malta for our Christmas supplement, naturally providing all the relevant information about the work and its artist. Indeed, art was another favourite subject of Albert's - he wrote various articles on Maltese and other artists, and his compilation of a special supplement for The Sunday Times, marking the fourth centenary of Caravaggio's birth in 1573, was a source of special pride to him.
Albert will be sorely missed by his wife and family - to whom he was totally devoted - and by this newspaper and its readers, who have been enriched by his contributions over more than three decades.