Mayors should be the ones with highest votes - vox pop

The candidate who received the highest number of votes in a local council election should be appointed mayor, according to the majority of those questioned on the streets in Valletta yesterday.

The most common response was that if an individual got the highest number of votes, then it meant the residents of that particular locality held the person in high esteem and the candidate should therefore be the mayor.

This debate was sparked off after the Gzira local council had to appoint an interim mayor for three months, after a six-week stalemate on whether Albert Rizzo or Ian Micallef should become mayor.

Both Mr Rizzo and Dr Micallef contested the local council election on the Nationalist Party ticket and while the two were the most popular contenders Mr Rizzo got the majority of votes - 878 on the first count - while Dr Micallef had 706 votes.

However, the PN's policy lays down that if the party has a majority of councillors then they should decide between them who should elected mayor.

On the other hand the Malta Labour Party's policy is that where there is a Labour majority the candidate with the highest number of votes automatically became the mayor.

Asked to comment on the matter, PN general secretary Joe Saliba said that when its councillors chose to run on the party ticket they were well aware of the rules of the game.

He said the party was analysing the situation and agreed that from time to time polices had to be revised accordingly.

"Of course, no system is perfect and no doubt that developments are necessary. However, it is important that everyone knows the rules of the game before one contests," he said.

MLP general secretary Jason Micallef agreed that no system was foolproof and tricky situations would arise no matter what policy one adopted.

"However, the MLP had found that the best policy is that the person with the highest number of votes is the mayor. I have to add that when a candidate chooses to represent the party then they have to accept its policies," he said.

The Times wanted to see what the public had to say and approached people in Valletta.

Both Carmelina Kalafato of Valletta and Joseph Rutzen of Senglea believed the person who garnered most votes should be mayor. They also said they did not have much confidence in local councils.

"I think the people should choose their mayor and the parties should not interfere in the matter," Michael Sultana of Naxxar said.

Carmen Borg of Qormi and Kathleen Vassallo of Zurrieq agreed and said that if a person won the highest number of votes then it was clear he had the backing of the residents.

On the other hand, Mario Mizzi of Swieqi had no set opinion on the matter but did say that though a person could be popular and get a lot of votes this did not necessarily mean he was good enough to run the show.

Franco Vassallo of St Julians pointed out that if a person formed part of a party then he had to accept its policies. "The party may decide that notwithstanding a person getting the highest number of votes, he may not be suited to become mayor. A clear example could be where the person, without the majority of votes, was held in higher esteem by the opposing side so appointing him would lead to greater homogeneity," he explained.

"As a general rule the person who is mayor should be the one who is the most respected by all the councillors if the council is to move ahead," Dr Vassallo added.

Mark Attard Montalto from Sliema had a similar opinion. "I am sure that all those elected are competent people but there would always be a number of members who enjoy the respect of the council. It is one of these persons who should be mayor of the respective council," Dr Attard Montalto said.