In Gozo, three former Nationalist mayors and a sitting PN mayor are seeking re-election in the upcoming local council elections... but not on the PN ticket. Mark Laurence Zammit reports.

Former Nationalist mayor Daniel Attard will be contesting the local council election on the Labour Party ticket in June.

Attard, who is the mayor of Għasri, had made headlines when he publicly resigned from the PN in the heat of the 2022 general election, a day after sharing an image of himself meeting Prime Minister Robert Abela during a campaign visit to the Gozo village.

He had also addressed a PL election rally and stayed on as an independent mayor since then, causing the PN to lose its majority in the locality. 

In comments to Times of Malta, Attard said he was never close to the heart of PN’s power and wanted to be mayor for the people and his home town, rather than for the party. But several factors over the past years pushed him even further away from the PN. 

He said he could not accept how the party would not stop its candidates from from foul mouthing Malta in EU institutions, and when he voiced his concern about it internally, he was sidelined. 

“On the other hand, when I was PN mayor, the PL opened its doors to me and welcomed me. They worked with me and we completed big projects for our village,” he said. 

“The PL is not perfect because it is made of people who make mistakes, like I sometimes do. But at least they do not try to give the impression that they are perfect because perfection is only a fantasy.”

He said in the PL he found people committed to helping others - something that resonated with his principles and eventually drove him to contest on Labour’s ticket.

Another former PN Gozitan mayor will also contest June’s election on Labour’s ticket.

Nicky Saliba was the Nationalist mayor of Żebbuġ up until 2019, when he decided to seek re-election as an independent.

He served as an independent mayor until January 2022, when he stepped down and passed on the leadership of the council to a PL mayor.

“So, I can tell you that when I decided to seek re-election this time round, I naturally felt I should contest with the PL,” he said when contacted for comment.

He said he had first chosen to switch to an independent because he felt his Nationalist colleagues were hindering his work.

That is why he felt he should vote for the council to be handed to the PL when he stepped down from his role as mayor and that is why it felt “natural” that he joins the PL coming June.

Fontana mayor feels he can still contribute

Meanwhile, Fontana mayor Saviour Borg might not have swung as far but he has also left the PN to seek re-election as an independent.

Borg, who currently serves as Fontana’s PN mayor, told Times of Malta the party did not ask him to contest on its ticket again, but he felt he could still contribute to his locality, so he decided to seek re-election as an independent.

He said another PN councillor was also not asked to contest.

Questions sent to the PN about this remained unanswered.

Għarb’s David Apap, on the other hand, was PN mayor till 2019, when he first contested as an independent.

He has chosen to seek re-election as an independent again in June.

Apap had not responded to a request for comment by the time of writing.

Similarly, last year, the PL lost one of its most outspoken mayors – Gżira’s Conrad Borg Manchè – who quit Labour in October, saying he has had enough of his party.

He did not, however, sway as far as to join the PN but will contest both the local council and the MEP elections as an independent.