Naxxar council mounts defence of PN mayor under fire from her own party

Updated at 2:11pm with details of the council vote

Naxxar council is defending its mayor’s vote in favour of a two-tower complex at the former trade fair grounds as she faces disciplinary procedures by the Nationalist Party.

In a motion approved on Wednesday evening the council said Anne Marie Muscat Fenech Adami’s vote at the Planning Authority reflected the council’s “opinion”.

The motion was presented by Labour Party minority leader Marlon Brincat. It was carried after Muscat Fenech Adami and PN councillor Maryanne Cuomo joined the four PL councillors to vote in favour, while PN councillor Joe Spiteri voted against and two other PN councillors - Christopher Deguara, the deputy mayor, and Mark Anthony Deguara - abstained.

Muscat Fenech Adami ended up in hot water when MaltaToday reported on how she failed to declare a conflict of interest when it was revealed that she is a company secretary in a firm partly owned by Edwin Mintoff, the architect of the Naxxar project she voted in favour of.

Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech had asked her to resign but she refused and her case has now been referred to the party’s ethics and disciplinary board.

The council said its opinion on the project was expressed in several meetings, particularly the one held on 27 October.

However, no formal vote was taken during that meeting to register the council’s position. A discussion ensued in which the majority of councillors appeared to favour the project but still expressed concern over the height of the buildings. The council had also registered its concern over the height with the PA.

“The mayor’s duty in the Planning Authority meeting was to vote according to the council’s wishes and if she had voted differently she would have gone against the council’s will,” the Naxxar council said.