Gżira councillors to decide who fills vacant Borg Manche independent seat
Borg Manche resigned from his councillor role following his election to parliament as a PN MP,
Updated with statement by Momentum
The Gżira council seat left vacant by Conrad Borg Manche will be filled following a vote among the local councillors, Mario Fava of the Local Councils Association said.
Former PL mayor of Gżira Conrad Borg Manche resigned from the Labour Party before the last local council elections in 2024. He was re-elected in those elections on an independent ticket but only served as a councillor, not mayor.
Following his election to parliament as a PN MP, Borg Manche resigned from his councillor role. The casual election to fill his seat saw the two candidates who submitted their nominations both fail to reach the necessary quota.
“Under such circumstances, it is the council that will vote to decide who will fill that seat via co-option,” the president of the Local Councils Association said.
The Local Government Act, similar to the general election law, states that: “In filling a vacancy by co-option, regard shall be had to the representation as nearly as may be of the interests and opinions represented and held by the vacating councillor.”
In cases where the council is replacing a member elected on a party ticket, it will co-opt a member of the same party, Fava said.
“The issue is that this time the person vacating the seat was elected as an independent.”
Gżira has a PL-majority council, with five of the council’s nine seats belonging to Labour.
Minority leader Aaron Caruana, of the PN, said the council will discuss the issue at its next meeting on July 28.
“We will nominate a candidate and I expect the PL councillors will do the same thing,” he said.
“Either way, we will expect whoever is appointed to act as an independent, considering that they will be taking over an independent seat,” he said.
Caruana said he and the PN councillors will be hoping to have a smooth process.
Contacted for comment Gżira mayor Neville Chetcuti said the council will follow the correct procedures.
Gzira independent Local seat should be reopened for open contestation for independent candidates
'An abuse of power' - Momentum
In a statement, Momentum said the decision was an abuse of power by PN and PL.
"The law is clear that when a party councillor vacates the seat, the same party has a right to co-opt a person of its choosing. However, PN and PL have no right to decide who replaces an independent candidate. The law states expressly that “in filling a vacancy by co-option, regard shall be had to the representation as nearly as may be of the interests and opinions represented and held by the vacating councillor,"" Momentum chairman Arnold Cassola said.
Since the vacating councillor was an independent, the party argued, it stood to reason that the person replacing him had to "represent as nearly as may be of the interests and opinions represented and held by the vacating councillor.”
"It is evident that it is only an independent candidate that can represent these interests. Momentum is therefore demanding that the seat should be opened up for public election amongst the residents of Gzira only for independent candidates. We are sick and tired of PLPN trying to take over every possible elected position in this country, even when they are supposed not to be there", Cassola said.