The Nationalist Party has retained the Nadur local council by just 12 votes.

It turned out to to be a tight race in a locality which has always been won by the Nationalist Party, but in which the PL has made some headway.

Edward Said was elected for the PN with 675 votes, while Josianne Cutajar was elected with 551 for Labour. Eucharist Camilleri has been elected for the PN, followed by Michael Camilleri for Labour. Abigail Camilleri for Labour was the last to be eliminated with 391 votes, for Rita Mifsud to give the PN the third seat.

The PN obtained 50.1% of the votes in Nadur, with Labour following closely with 48.27%. AD won 1.5% of the votes.

The Labour Party has retained Xaghra. For Labour, Joe Cordina, Aaron Agius and Christian Zammit have been elected for Labour, while Joseph Attard and Kevin Cutajar were elected for the PN.

Former San Lawrenz Mayor Noel Formosa was the first to be elected as the Nationalist Party will be registering a 2 per cent increase in the locality. Anthony Formosa, Carmela Grima and Joseph Michael Cauchi were elected for the PN, while Franco Buhagiar was elected for Labour.

The Labour Party has held to its majority in Qala, another sign that its support in Gozo has been maintained. Clint Camilleri remains mayor having obtained 675 votes (quota 262). Paul Buttigieg for the PN was elected with 268 votes. Another Paul Buttigieg, this time for Labour, was also elected together with Karl Buttigieg. 

Munxar has been won by the Labour Party, with Carmen Said to be elected mayor at the expense of Robert Mallia, both of whom are Labour candidates. It is the first time that the PL has won this locality.

In the first count, PL's Carmen Said obtained 199 votes and was alected mayor. The quota was 145. PL's Mallia came second with 179 votes and was elected too, as was Nationalist candidate Damien Spiteri, with 146 votes. The PL obtained 52.66% of the votes, the PN 42.26% and independent candidate Angelo Parnis just over 5% (44 votes). Paul Curmi (PN) and Sonya Abela (PL) complete the line-up.

In Kercem, the Nationalist Party increased its tally by 2 per cent. For the PN, Mario Azzopardi obtained 372 votes and is elected mayor, with Paul Mizzi following with 243 votes, David Mizzi was also elected for the PN. PL's Raymond Azzopardi was elected with 292 votes. Frankie Attard (PL) was the fifth councillor to be elected.

In Ghajnsielem, the PN has apparently kept its majority, albeit by a slimmer margin. Larry Buttigieg was elected for Labour with 433 votes (quota 315), while Kevin Cauchi and Franco Ciangura were elected foor the PN with 360 and 399 votes respectively. Kareen Xuereb (PN) was also elected with Mark azzopardi completing the 3-2 win for PN.

In Zebbug, Christian Cassar was elected for the Labour Party with 304 votes, while Nicky Saliba, Carmelo Saliba and Daniel Cordina were elected for the PN.

Photos: Jonathan Borg. Video: Mathhew Agius