The Labour Party on Friday accused the Nationalist Party of using double standards with regard to the situation in Għargħur.

On Thursday, the PN called the press yesterday about the vote of no confidence in the former mayor of Għargħur Helen Gauci and compared the votes obtained in this locality to "give an impression that the situation of Għargħur is different from that of other localities".

Gauci was deposed and replaced by Mariah Meli as mayor after PN councillor Francesca Attard resigned from the party and backed a Labour-led motion of no confidence in Gauci. The PN obtained a comfortable vote majority in the locality, having won 62% of first count votes, electing three councillors.

In a statement Friday, the PL said the PN "is conveniently ignoring the fact that in Għargħur, it lost the majority of its councillors, having only two seats out of five, for reasons that the PN is well aware of, and therefore it has to respect the will of the majority of the councillors if it truly respects democracy".

The PN also knows that it is the number of seats that count and not the number of votes to determine who leads the Council, the PL said. Despite this, the PN is trying to blame the Labour Party for losing its majority.

"In similar cases in the past, the PN supported changes of leadership from Labour Party mayors to Nationalist Party mayors. This shows how much the Nationalist Party uses double standards in everything it does, even at local councils level," the PL said.

"The threatening words used by Nationalist Party officials yesterday, at the press conference, are clear proof that not only is it trying to disrupt the course of a democratic process, but that it feels that it can dictate at will the composition of the council of Għargħur and go against the will of the majority of the councillors.

It is truly ironic that the PN is talking about respect for the will of the majority, when in the same building where the news conference took place yesterday, a PN Leader elected by Nationalist Party members was removed against the will of its own members, the PL said.