The Labour Party has announced five people with physical disabilities who will run as candidates in the upcoming local council elections.

Matthew Chetcuti and Matthew Giordimaina will both run for the Rabat local council, while Clifford Portelli will run for the Paola council, Gianluca Cutajar will run for Żurrieq and Jonathan Pace for Birżebbuġa.

The five candidates were announced following a meal with the Prime Minister’s wife and Marigold Foundation chairperson Michelle Muscat and the Labour Party’s CEO Randolph Debattista.

In a statement, the PL said the candidates don’t want to be defined by their disabilities, and indeed they didn’t stress on accessibility issues in their localities, but rather focused on cultural, social and infrastructural issues.

“I was struck at how we spoke about everything except their disabilities,” Michelle Muscat said. “After all, they are people who live busy lives, who have families and jobs and who now want to give something back to their communities.”

“Their motivation, in spite of all the challenges life has thrown at them, should inspire all of us to be more positive.”

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Tim Diacono

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]