Local councils were a creation of the Nationalist Party in government.
Documentary fact. The Local Councils Act was enacted in 1993 under Eddie Fenech Adami's PN government (in power 1987-1996, then 1998-2013) as part of the decentralisation programme. First local council elections held in 1994. Malta's modern system of 68 local councils originates entirely from this PN-era legislative framework. Britannica explicitly references Fenech Adami's 'program of decentralization that would return power and responsibility to local councils'.
Documentary fact. The Local Councils Act was enacted in 1993 under Eddie Fenech Adami's PN government (in power 1987-1996, then 1998-2013) as part of the decentralisation programme. First local council elections held in 1994. Malta's modern system of 68 local councils originates entirely from this PN-era legislative framework. Britannica explicitly references Fenech Adami's 'program of decentralization that would return power and responsibility to local councils'.
We tested Borg's claim against the documentary record — Maltese legislation (Chapter 363 Laws of Malta), election-date archives, and historical sources on Maltese decentralisation.
True. The Local Councils Act was enacted in 1993 under Eddie Fenech Adami's PN government as part of the broader decentralisation programme. First local council elections were held in 1994. Britannica's entry on Maltese politics explicitly references Fenech Adami's 'program of decentralization that would return power and responsibility to local councils'. Malta's modern system of 68 local councils originates entirely from this PN-era legislative framework. Limitations: 'creation of' is not in dispute as a literal historical claim; the political framing of how subsequent governments have shaped local-council powers since 1993 is a separate question we don't address here.
Did the Nationalist Party really create Malta's local councils
The creation of Malta's local-council system is one of the cleanest historical attributions in Maltese political history. The 1993 Local Councils Act is unambiguously a PN-era legislative achievement.
Method note
We test the claim using primary historical sources: the Local Councils Act 1993 (Maltese statutory law); Britannica's biographical entry on Eddie Fenech Adami (which references the decentralisation programme); Wikipedia's Eddie Fenech Adami article (well-sourced); the Local Councils' Association Malta historical records; and Maltese government records of the first local-council elections in 1994.
The 1993 Act and the broader programme
| Year | Event | Government |
|---|---|---|
| 1987 | PN returns to power; Fenech Adami begins decentralisation programme | PN |
| 1993 | Local Councils Act enacted (Chapter 363 Laws of Malta) | PN |
| 1994 | First local council elections held | PN |
| 1996-1998 | Sant Labour interlude — system continues without major change | PL |
| 1998-2013 | Subsequent PN governments — amendments, expansion of council functions | PN |
| 2013-2026 | PL governments — modernisation of local revenue powers; basic 68-council framework retained | PL |
Pre-1993, Malta had no formal local-government system — community-level functions were administered centrally by ministries. The 1993 Act was a substantial constitutional and administrative reform:
- Established 68 local councils across Malta and Gozo (54 in Malta, 14 in Gozo, including Comino under Għajnsielem).
- Created elected positions — council members and Mayor — replacing what had been a centrally-administered system.
- Devolved statutory powers over local public services (street cleaning, traffic management, local infrastructure maintenance, community activities).
- Provided for council own funds via central-government allocations and locally-raised revenue.
- Established the Local Councils' Association as the umbrella body.
Why this was a PN priority
Decentralisation was central to Fenech Adami's PN programme returning to power in 1987 after 16 years of Mintoff Labour rule. The political logic:
- Reverse the Mintoff-era centralisation of administrative power.
- Bring decision-making closer to residents — particularly important for Gozo where central-government attention had historically lagged.
- Strengthen democratic participation through local-level elections.
- Align Malta's governance structure with European norms ahead of EU accession negotiations.
The 1993 Act was a constitutional-level achievement — establishing what is now an integral part of Maltese democratic life across more than three decades.
What's happened since
Both PN and PL administrations have made adjustments to the local-council framework:
- Sant Labour government (1996-1998): Continued operation of the system without major changes.
- Subsequent PN governments (1998-2013): Various amendments, expansion of council functions, refinements to electoral rules.
- PL governments (2013-present): Modernisation of local-government revenue powers, administrative reforms, councils' role in EU-funded projects.
- The basic 68-council system established in 1993-1994 has remained the framework throughout.
The decentralisation programme in international context
Malta's 1993 local-government creation was part of a broader European decentralisation wave in the post-1989 period. Many newly-democratic and democratising European states established or strengthened local-government tiers in this period. Malta's framework drew on UK, Italian and broader Continental European models.
EU accession negotiations from 2000 onwards reinforced the decentralisation framework — EU regional policy assumes functioning sub-national governance structures, and Malta's 1993-era system enabled effective EU-funded local-project delivery from accession in 2004 onwards.
What this means for the 2026 election
Borg's reference to local councils in the Gozo press conference context is politically loaded — it positions PN as the historical originator of local democratic structures and implicitly contrasts with PL's centralising tendencies (a frequent PN critique). The factual underlying — that PN created local councils in 1993 — is unambiguous historical record.
So is the claim accurate?
Yes. The Local Councils Act 1993 was enacted under Eddie Fenech Adami's PN government, the first local-council elections were held in 1994, and the modern 68-council system originates directly from that PN-era legislative framework. Borg's claim is straightforward historical fact.
Verdict: True.