local news

MLP reneges on Gzira local council protest
New Gzira local council off to a bumpy start

The three candidates representing the Malta Labour Party at the Gzira Local Council have made a U-turn from their previous stance against forking out funds for the new Gzira Local Council premises. The purchase has now been approved by the Gzira councillors, three of which hail from the Labour Party.

Former Gzira Mayor, Ian Micallef, had persuaded the council to vote in favour of buying the new premises, a cost running into the thousands. Ian Micallef was the Mayor in a majority Nationalist Party Council before the last elections held in March.

During the initial stages of the purchase, some 30 Labour Party supporters, including the current Labour Party councillors and MP Leo Brincat, had held a symbolic protest against the buying of the new premises.

However, the last local council election in Gzira saw three Labour, three Nationalist and one Independent candidate being elected.

Numerous votes were held to elect a mayor and, although Independent candidate Albert Rizzo was the hot favourite, there was no agreement as the Labour candidates voted for Vincenza Attard, while the Nationalist candidates voted for Ian Micallef, with Albert Rizzo abstaining.

The law states that if this occurs after six voting sessions, then the most experienced (the oldest) will become mayor for a period of three months with another election to be held after this period of time. Accordingly, Twanny Buhagiar (MLP) was made mayor.

In the first meeting a number of motions were passed and motion 4.2, which consisted of paying the sum of Lm10,000 a year, or Lm5,000 every six months to purchase the new building in Rue Dargens, was passed through without any problems after the motion was put forward by Ian Micallef and was seconded by Victor Rutter.

However, Albert Rizzo was not present for the meeting, as the date of the council meeting was changed from a Monday to Wednesday on short notice.

Albert Rizzo, although not a Labourite, was never in favour of the purchasing the new premises. It also came as a surprise that many of the motions were forwarded by former Nationalist Mayor Ian Micallef were passed through without objection by the Labour Party candidates.

Meanwhile, Local Council law was broken when the Vice-Mayor was elected. According to the Local Council laws, the Vice-Mayor’s election should be conducted in the same way as the Mayor’s election. But the council simply confirmed Vincenza Attard as Vice-Mayor.

The new Gzira Local Council failed to start off on a good note as a skip at Marshall Court was removed by one of the Labour Party Councillors to accommodate a Labour Party supporter, who also happens to be a policeman.

Meanwhile, a commemorative plaque with the names of the new local councillors inscribed will be placed soon on the Gzira seafront, which will cost some Lm1,200. When questions were raised over the costings of the plaque, the Mayor said that former Mayor Ian Micallef had spend the same amount of money on a similar plaque.

This will be the third plaque erected by the Gzira Local Council, the first cost Lm120. The way the Gzira Local Council is working at the moment is a far cry from the Labour leader’s cry to save the people’s money.

Former Gzira Mayor Albert Rizzo feels that there is a total discrimination towards candidates standing as Independent candidates for the local council elections, blaming such discrimination on both political parties.