Fgura mayor Darren Marmarà faces vote of no confidence today

Yesterday Labour declared “in the clearest way possible” that it had lost its trust in the current mayor. “After Marmarà did not give satisfactory explanations for its actions, and after refusing to resign, the PL did not have any other way other than that of presenting a no-confidence motion against Marmarà,” the PL insisted in a three-paragraph statement.

The PL assured Fgura residents that this decision was being taken “for valid reasons in the best interest of the locality”.

Only a week ago, Marmarà had warned that he would take any legal action necessary to protect his interests in the wake of a motion of no confidence against him by fellow Labour councillors. He had also refuted the suggestion that a motion of no confidence in him presented by Labour councillors’ had party backing. “The motion was brought against me by the personal initiative of the five councillors,” Marmarà had claimed.

He had also made it clear that he had nothing to do with any corruption allegations or accusations of immoral acts, saying there was nothing at law that could stop him from carrying out his duties as Labour mayor.

The motion was signed by former Labour mayors Anthony Degiovanni and Salvu Camilleri, Rita Cutajar, and Labour committee president Pierre Dalli. Byron Camilleri is being nominated for mayor.

The councillors said in their motion they were unable to retain a serene relationship with the mayor and that it was necessary to force his resignation. The motion has clear party backing, In-Nazzjon had reported last Thursday, also claiming that Marmarà had not supported Labour leader Joseph Muscat’s leadership bid in 2008. The newspaper had added that PL local councils’ coordinator Frans Abela had been unaware of the motion.

Labour councillors had not been attending council meetings with deputy mayor Anthony Degiovanni losing a case against Marmarà before the board of local governance, over planned twinnings with towns in Bulgaria.

Degiovanni had insisted that the motions proposed by the mayor went against the Permanent Orders which governed local council business.