Former Għargħur mayor requests Auditor General investigation into allegations levelled against her

Former Għargħur mayor Helen Gauci, has formally requested the Auditor General investigate the allegations made against her by the Labour Party following her removal from office.

Gauci submitted the motion after Labour councillors levelled a number of accusations at her, “yet consistently failed to produce any evidence to substantiate their claims”, the Nationalist Party said.

“This follows a motion submitted yesterday evening during a meeting of the Għargħur Local Council by former Mayor Helen Gauci and PN Councillor Marilena Hassan, requesting the Auditor General to investigate the allegations made against the former Mayor by the Labour Party,” the party said on Friday.

The Labour councillors on the council voted against the motion.

“Instead of supporting an investigation by the Auditor General – a public official unanimously appointed with cross-party support and trusted by the nation – in yesterday evening’s meeting, the Labour Councillors objected. They attempted to replace the Auditor General’s role with that of the Director General for Local Councils, the same official who, just last week, appeared on the Labour Party’s media station Super One to discuss the Għargħur case before even conducting any form of inquiry,” the PN said.

After initially attempting to block Gauci’s motion altogether, the Labour Councillors then introduced an amendment to include the Director for Local Councils in the investigation.

“It is now clear the Labour Party is uncomfortable with a truly independent investigation by the Auditor General. Instead, they instructed their councillors, who hijacked the majority in Għargħur, to alter the motion so as to involve the government directly,” the PN said.

The PN said it believes any investigation must be genuinely independent and transparent.

“It is for this reason that former Mayor Helen Gauci has called for the Auditor General to lead the inquiry, so that the full truth can come to light,” they said.