The Għargħur local council will now be led by the Labour Party after a confidence vote backed by a newly-independent local councillor toppled the Nationalist Party mayor Helen Gauci.
The PN had a comfortable vote majority in the locality, having won 62% of the locality’s first count votes. It elected three councillors compared to two councillors from the PL.
Deputy Mayor Francesca Attard however resigned from the Nationalist Party last month because she wants to work “free from political pressure”, and has since turned the tables on her former party, backing a motion to remove the PN mayor Helen Gauci and replace her with PL councillor Mariah Meli.
In a statement, the PN said that Robert Abela had chosen to “steamroll over the people of Għargħur” and condemned the vote of no confidence in the mayor, saying that this was despite the “clear will expressed by the majority of residents in last June’s election.”
“The PN strongly condemns the manner in which Robert Abela this evening chose to ride roughshod over the residents of Għargħur by allowing the Labour Party to pass a vote of no confidence in the locality’s Mayor Helen Gauci, in an overtly anti-democratic move,” the PN said.
It said that the locality’s mayor Helen Gauci alone had secured more votes than the two Labour Local Councillors and the Independent Councillor who jointly tabled the motion of no confidence against her.
Gauci garnered 869 first count votes, while the three councillors who removed her received a combined total of 783 votes.
“Nonetheless, in a blatant attack on democracy driven purely by political motives and orchestrated by the Labour Party, Robert Abela’s Labour today betrayed the interests of the people of Għargħur simply to seize control of the Local Council against the majority’s will. After capturing national institutions, Abela is now grabbing hold of a Council with a clear PN majority just to maintain control,” the party said.
“Yet through the manoeuvres of recent days, culminating this evening with the approval of the Labour Party’s top leadership, the will of the majority is no longer reflected in the leadership of the Għargħur Local Council,” it continued.
The motion of confidence was passed with a majority of three – the two PL councillors and Attard – to two, meaning that Gauci was deposed as mayor and will be replaced by PL minority leader Mariah Meli. Attard meanwhile will remain deputy mayor.
It is the first time that Għargħur will be managed by the Labour Party.
In a statement, the Labour Party said that it welcomes the outcome of the vote, “with respect for democracy, contrary to the way the Nationalist Party is addressing the situation.”
“This is because instead of ensuring that its Councillors act with good governance and transparency in this locality, the Nationalist Party is trying to disrupt the course of a democratic process that determines the composition of this Council accordingly,” the PL said.
“The Nationalist Party lost the majority of Councillors and ended up with 2 out of 5, and should respect this result, as the Labour Party respected results of other Councils that are formed in a similar way to that of Ħal Għargħur,” it added.
“There is no doubt that the decision of the Labour and Independent Councillors of Għarghur was taken in the best interest of the residents who deserve the locality to be managed in full transparency as required by good governance,” the PL concluded.