Dissolution could be on the cards for beleaguered Sliema council

“Sliema Local Council is being monitored and the situation is under scrutiny,” a parliamentary secretariat spokesman responsible for local councils told MaltaToday.

“Should it transpire that the Sliema local council is not functioning, then there would be no other alternative than to dissolve it and call fresh elections,” the spokesperson added.

The promise of dissolution comes in the wake of how the local council sustained yet another blow to its integrity and credibility, as both PL and PN councillors Martin DeBono and Bobby Yves Calì resigned yesterday from their respective parties.

Both resignations were prompted by developments in ongoing criminal investigations during which both councillors were arrested in January over suspicious behaviour involving council laptops.

It has been reported that criminal charges over the alleged laptop misuse were been filed against both councillors misuse only last month.

But while DeBono and Yves Cali both resigned from their respective parties – citing similar reasons of not wanting to compromise the party with their criminal charges – they retained their seats on the council as independent candidates.

With the charges against De Bono and Yves Cali, the number of Sliema council members currently under criminal investigation has soared to four – fully over one third of the 11-seat-strong council.

Contacted by MaltaToday following the dual resignations, a parliamentary secretariat spokesman responsible for local councils avoided commenting on whether there is concern over the rapidly-destabilising council.

Similarly, questions about the tenability of a council where four out of 11 council members are involved in criminal investigations went unanswered, as were questions about potentially impaired functionality and whether dissolution is being considered.

Former Sliema mayor Niki Dimech was the first council member to find himself under criminal investigation in late 2010, accused of requesting kick-backs off local council contracts.

He was since ousted as mayor, and replaced by Joanna Gonzi late last year. Nevertheless, Dimech retained his seat on the council despite resigning from the Nationalist Party.

His resignation from the PN was quickly followed by that of Sandra Camilleri, a fellow PN councillor who took umbrage at being “forced” to sign a no-confidence motion against Dimech.

The next councillor to come to the attention of the Police Force was controversial deputy mayor Cyrus Engerer, who currently faces charges of computer misuse which were filed only last week.

The charges were prompted by a report lodged by former partner Marvic Camilleri last year, who alleged that Engerer circulated sexual images of him to friends and co-workers.

Only days before the charges were filed in court, Engerer had resigned from the PN and joined the PL. Like Dimech and Camilleri before him, he retained his seat on the council as an independent candidate.

It is unclear how the severely weakened council will cope following the dual blow of the resignation of both former PN and PL councillors Bobby Yves Calì and DeBono, and the criminal charges they now face.

As it stands, the resignation of Yves Calì was the final blow to the PN’s relative majority on the council, which is now composed of five independent councillors (DeBono, Yves Calì, Engerer, Nikki Dimech, Sandra Camilleri).

So far, the PN retains four seats on the council (Joanna Gonzi, Edward Cuschieri, Julian Galea, and Patrick Pace), while the PL has gone down to two (Marianne Aquilina and Nicolai Gauci).

Should the Sliema council be dissolved, it would be the fourth since the local council system’s establishment 18 years ago.

In 2008, the Mtarfa council was dissolved after having repeatedly disregarded the regulations laid out in the Local Councils Act which, among other requirements, stipulates that councils meet at least once a month.

The Labour-led council had not met for eight months by the time it was dissolved in April 2008.

The dissolution was preceded by previous dissolutions of Sannat’s council in April 1999, and of Paola’s council in October 1999.