The Labour Party has replied to the letter of resignation handed in by Gzira mayor Conrad Borg Manche with two short sentences, in which it thanked him for his services and telling him that the door of the party remains open.

Borg Manche resigned last week saying that the party had left him with no other option. In his resignation letter, Borg Manche said that the PL had lost the scope for which it had been set up.

He said his party disrespected him and his locality’s people over many issues for too long and he feels it no longer represents socialist values.

“Everyone has their limits and now I’ve had enough. I have been waiting in vain for too long,” he wrote the resignation letter.

“The party is no longer a socialist party that fights for workers. That is why I had joined the party in the first place, and so this resignation is only natural.

“I only feel disappointed because of genuine Labour Party members who trusted me and supported me, and I thank them from the bottom of my heart.”

The Gzira mayor has been outspoken in his role and recently also took part in a pro-environment protest “Xebbajtuna”.

In a letter of reply, the PL, through executive secretary Catherine Fenech, thanked Borg Manche for his services and said the party’s door remains open.

Borg Manche wrote back to the party, saying that his decision to quit had not been easy. He said he has not been given the weapons with which to work in the best interests of the locality.

In the letter, which he posted on Facebook, he said he always was, is and will remain a socialist. He hoped that the Labour Party will “find its soul” again.