Albert Rizzo has been elected Gzira mayor after Ian Micallef felt that because of his work as president of the Local Councils’ Association and other commitments he was not in a position to give all the time required to hold the position of mayor.

In his statement, Dr Micallef thanked the Nationalist Party for its support for him to be Gzira mayor.

He said that he was committed to see that another PN councillor is elected mayor because, in spite of being in a minority, Labour councillors have shown that their main interest was the advantage that the Malta Labour Party could get rather than to see to the locality’s needs.

“In spite of not having the council’s approval, the Labour councillors tried to take action against me after the speech delivered by Joe Falzon, who is in charge of Labour councillors, during the recent MLP general conference,” Dr Micallef said.

He said that in the prevailing circumstances, it was better for him to turn down the possibility of becoming mayor and nominate another PN councillor who showed the same determination to hold the post.

As of last June, the post of Gzira mayor had been held by Labour councillor Anthony Abela after no agreement had been reached on the matter. Mr Abela, the eldest councillor in Gzira, took over as mayor based on local council regulations.