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Sannat Mayor Carmel Attard has sent his resignation letter to the Malta Labour Party, informing the leadership that he could no longer work on the council constantly sabotaged by its executive secretary, who has seen the backing of the same party for the last years.
MaltaToday is informed that Attard had previously demanded the party’s backing as elected mayor, as executive secretary Arthur Bajada was somehow being supported by the MLP in getting his contract renewed despite his behaviour at work deemed “illegal” by both the mayor and the director of local government.
Labour sources said the party still insisted, through its other Labour councillors in Sannat and the central councillors’ coordinator, Joe Falzon, that Bajada gets his contract just expired renewed, prompting Attard to send his letter of resignation last Monday. The party has not yet accepted his resignation and Sannat residents are said to be calling on the mayor to remain, backing his decision to get rid of the secretary.
Only the previous Friday, the secretary just walked out of a council meeting, refusing to accept a motion that was about to be tabled by the mayor regarding the secretary’s contract.
When the mayor explained to the secretary that his opposition to the motion was illegal, the secretary headed for the door, informing him that he was sick.
Contacted after he sent his letter to the party leadership, Attard said he was “fed up” working the secretary but declined to comment further.
Sources at the local government department said the mayor had not yet sent a letter of resignation there but the department director, Natalino Attard, and minister for local government Tonio Borg, were informed about the situation.
Last month, the secretary refused to send the minutes and agenda for a council meeting, forcing the council to abort the meeting in what was deemed by the local government department to be an illegal defiance of the mayor’s orders.
Director of Local Government Natalino Attard had accused Bajada of “breaking the law” in failing to inform council members of the meeting.
He also directed the mayor to discuss “this failure” in the first council meeting “so that the council will decide on the disciplinary action to take against the secretary”, but this had to be cut short last week when the secretary left the council building.
The mayor had already signalled he was resigning last July in the wake of what he called “threats and conspiracies” from his own party to approve the secretary’s performance bonus against his will.
kschembri@mediatoday.com.mt
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