Gzira Mayor Conrad Borg Manché resigned from the Labour Party on Saturday, saying that the party left him no other path to take but to resign.

Borg Manche, who has clashed with his party on a number of environmental issues, will stay on as an independent mayor.

Borg Manche announced his resignation on a Facebook post on Sunday morning, describing his decision as “the most difficult decision I have ever made in my life.”

He said he had sent a letter of resignation 12 hours prior to the Labour Party administration, and that he will be publishing said letter, “so that everyone knows the reasons, and no one speculates or invents.”

Borg Manche said that the letter provides all the reasons that led him to take this decision. He said that so far, he has not received any response from anyone in the administration, even though they have received it.

“Honestly, I am convinced that nobody is disappointed, because they have always looked at me as someone extra, someone who is not a “yes” men, and always resists,” Borg Manche wrote.

“If they were waiting for it or not, I do not know, but they made it clear to me that I had no other choice but to resign from the party. Malta is small, and talk spreads, and it disappoints me when you are shown in a certain way, but the facts always show the truth, and I made this decision based on the facts I am living,” Borg Manche continued.

He said that everyone has their limits, and that he has endured and waited enough.

“Everyone makes mistakes, and I always forgave and moved on. But these are not mistakes which need forgiving, but grudges and vendettas that suffocate and tire you,” Borg Manche said.

As per his letter, Borg Manche apologized to those genuine members and delegates who had believed in him and have always encouraged him.

“Perhaps because of my resignation, they feel betrayed, but I urge them to seek the truth so that they can make informed decisions for the good of the party and, above all, for the good of the country,” Borg Manche said.

Full letter