Valletta Vice-mayor Alfred Zammit says Labour should embrace critics within its ranks

The Labour Party needs to embrace criticism and reach out to people hurt by its actions, Valletta Vice-mayor Alfred Zammit says in an interview with MaltaToday.

Zammit, who describes his relationship with fellow Labour councillors in Valletta as “less than nil”, insists though, his relationship with the PL leadership is good.

A former mayor of the capital city, Zammit was pipped to the role in last year’s local elections by newcomer Olaf McKay. Zammit denies being bitter about the outcome but says a hidden hand inside the PL had actively worked against him.

He says the matter has since been addressed by the party administration but to this day, he doesn’t know who instructed voters to vote for other candidates.

“The PL, however, needs to identify people like me who got hurt and speak to them. I appeal to the PL to never be irked by people within its ranks who criticise the party… parties grow when they listen to those who disagree with them,” Zammit says.

On the most recent controversy to dog the Valletta council, a court ruling that ordered the council to reinstate a contract for the restoration of the St Paul’s Shipwreck church façade, Zammit says his advice was ignored by the mayor.

“I have nothing personal against the mayor… I’m against his decision [to stop the contract],” Zammit says, adding he had warned the mayor he was going to be cornered.

“But he was hard-headed, and now the court agreed with what I, and the St Paul’s Shipwreck parish archpriest, were saying all along,” Zammit says.

A former presenter on ONE TV with his show Kalamita, Zammit insists his decision to leave the party station and move the show to Smash TV was of a commercial nature.