The Nationalist Party's Gabriel Micallef will be mayor of Mellieha for the next five years after a proposal submitted by Labour councillors was turned down by independent candidate Matthew Brg Cuschieri.
It was Borg Cuschieri who made the announcement on Facebbok on Saturday, hours after Labour Party Mellieha councillors said they wanted him as mayor, also suggesting that the PL and Nationalist Party should share the post of the deputy mayor.
In the last local council elections, the Mellieha locality was deadlocked with the PL and PN each electing four councillors, while Borg Cuschieri was elected as an independent councillor. He obtained 546 votes, one-third of the 1,525 first preferences obtained by the PN’s Gabriel Micallef, who obtained the highest number of votes overall.
In total, the PN received 3,031 votes, equivalent to 49.06%, and the PL receiving 2,559, equivalent to 41.42%.
The councillors elected on behalf of the Labour Party, in a statement issued by the PL Mellieha club Saturday, said there is no clear majority of seats and, furthermore, no party got the absolute majority of votes.
The councillors - John Buttigieg, Rebecca Bartolo Cutajar, Kurt Buttigieg and Jude Cauchi - said that the Local Councils Act Chap. 363 stipulates that when there is such an occurrence, the positions of mayor and deputy mayor are not based on the number of votes obtained by a councillor. Instead, it is the elected councillors who decide on the positions.
The Labour councillors, in their discussions with the independent candidate, Matthew Borg Cuschieri, proposed that he occupy the role of mayor for five years whilst the role of deputy mayor for is split, with a Labour and PN councillor each having the same time in the position.
The councillors said that they believe that this proposal reflects and wholly respects the results obtained in the local council elections of 2024 whilst fully respecting the law. They said that it is in favour for a proposal that will lead to unity within the local council and, above all, inclusivity which is highly desired by the residents of Mellieħa and Manikata.
But, in a post on Facebook, Borg Cuschieri said although the PL had proposed him as mayor, to be democratic he had to consider the voting pattern of the Mellieha residents.
He said for him the best choice would have been pf having a PN mayor for two and a half years to be followed by him as mayor for the remaining part of the term. But the PN continued to refuse the propsal and in the end it was decided that Gabriel Micallef becomes mayor, with Borg Cuschieri as vice mayor.
This decision was not easy but "I always kept in mind that a just solution needed to be found". He said that he will remain independent and is "not forming a coalition" with the PN.
In a statement, the PN welcomed the agreement that was reached in the interests of the locality.