Labour celebrates resounding victory

The Labour Party was celebrating yesterday after winning 53.2 per cent of the first preference votes in last Saturday's local elections.

The Nationalist Party was left trailing at 44 per cent and Alternattiva Demokratika won 1.73 per cent.

Three years ago in elections in the same localities, the MLP won 48.5 per cent and the PN 48.1 per cent of the vote.

The elections saw the MLP make a net gain in excess of four percentage points in the 21 localities where the elections were held.

It won control for the first time of Sta Venera council, hitherto a "safe" PN locality. It also won a new majority of seats at Mqabba council, despite a slender majority of first count votes for the PN in this locality.

Labour also massively strengthened its hold on Mellieha, which had been a battleground for both parties since fewer than 30 votes separated them three years ago. The difference now stands at about 500.

The MLP made gains in all localities except Iklin, where AD did well. The biggest gain for Labour was at Pembroke, up 8.8 per cent. Gains at Dingli, Kirkop, Zurrieq and Mellieha were also above eight per cent.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said the election result confirmed the indications the PN had had over the past few weeks, although he was surprised over the loss at Sta Venera.

He insisted that the outcome of this election could not be interpreted nationally because turnout last Saturday was very different from that at a general election. The government, he said, was only in its second year of this legislature and it was taking responsible measures which, it knew, cost it popularity but would benefit the country over time, such as a smaller deficit and a stronger economy.

The PN and the government would heed the electorate's messages and seek to be more responsive to the people, without shirking from the decisions this country needed. "We are not for taking the easy way out" he said.

MLP leader Alfred Sant, relishing his party's third victory after the Euro Parliament elections and the council elections last year, told a press conference this was a "massive vote of no confidence" in the Nationalist government. "This is a very positive result which shows that the people are eager for a government that is close to the people, has a clear direction and is responsive to the people's aspirations".

Dr Sant said that had voting also taken place at Zejtun and Marsa, the MLP calculated it would have won a majority of 57 per cent. The elections in the two localities were not held after the PN took an eleventh hour decision to pull out a number of candidates, with the nominees remaining matching the number of vacancies.

The PN, which had been bracing for the defeat, put on a brave face and tried to find the positives - it made strong gains at Nadur and also held on to Valletta, where a battle royal had raged. Party officials said it was clear the party had suffered the most for the relatively low turnout on Saturday.

AD's performance showed very little improvement from three years ago and none of its candidates were elected, although the candidate for St Paul's Bay came close.

The vote counting this year was held at the Mediterranean Conference Centre, in Valletta while works are carried out at Ta' Qali counting hall to remove asbestos. The last time votes were counted in Valletta, at what was then known at the Knights Hall, was in the 1976 general election, when the PN also suffered a defeat.

The well-oiled counting process proceeded without major hitches and most results were out by daybreak yesterday. Vote counting ended by 2.15 p.m. There were brief interruptions when MLP officials toured the counting hall and were carried shoulder high by supporters shouting Viva l-Labour. Labour later celebrated with a large rally outside party headquarters in Hamrun.

Tension was especially high during the counting process in such localities as Mqabba where the PN lost its majority of seats because some of those who gave it a majority of first preferences did not give the other preferences to the party.

Vote-counting for St Paul's Bay council was something of a nail biter and the outcome was only known at 10.30 a.m. when the PN was assured of five seats to the MLP's four, unchanged from three years ago.

The outcome at St Julians was also uncertain for several hours but the composition of the council eventually remained unchanged.

At Zurrieq the MLP knew very early it had retained its majority but until late morning the PN did not know if it would hold on to both its council seats. It only learnt it had succeeded at 11.30 a.m.

The PN lost council seats in six localities - Sta Venera, Mqabba, Ghajnsielem, Xewkija, Fontana and Kirkop.

All the PN's losses were Labour's gains except for Ghajnsielem where Joseph Debono was the only independent candidate to be elected in this round of local elections. Mr Debono three years successfully contested the elections as a PN candidate.

The PN won a seat at Dingli from an independent councillor.

At Fontana the PN elected three councillors and the MLP two. No elections were held there three years ago when there were only four candidates for the PN and one for the MLP.

In all, including Zejtun and Marsa, the MLP ended up with 78 councillors and the PN 59.

Out of 23 councils (including Marsa and Zejtun) the MLP won control of 14 and the PN of nine.

Nor surprisingly, most mayors from both parties did well and will remain in saddle.

Dingli will have a 19-year-old as its new Labour mayor - Ian Borg, who won 404 votes when the quota was 318. Outgoing mayor Joe Abela came runner up and will be deputy mayor.

The Labour mayor at Zebbug, Joseph Ciantar, will lose his post to Paula Vella Schiriha. There will also be new Labour mayors in Mqabba and Sta Venera because of the swing to Labour and a new PN mayor for Fontana where the outgoing mayor did not stand for re-election.

In all there are three women mayors, all Labour, Ms Vella Schiriha in Zebbug and incumbents Antoinette Vassallo in Ta' Xbiex and Monica Vella in Xewkija.