Xagħra's former mayor Christian Zammit, who last year quit politics and the Labour Party, has returned to the party to run in June's local council elections.

Zammit, who had built up a reputation for speaking out against environmental destruction and overdevelopment, last year announced that he had resigned from his position as Mayor and as president of Labour's Gozitan Regional Committee after a 23-year career in politics. 

At the time he had explained briefly that he had come to this decision in order to not be a burden to others. He had previously said he believed the construction sector was out to "eliminate" him politically.  

But in a Facebook post on Friday, Zammit said he was approached by many citizens who encouraged him to return to politics. 

Expanding on his previous decision to resign, he said that at the time he wanted to take a "strong position" to highlight the need for reform in the country's approach to environmental protection and a desire to see a change in the way business and politics interact. 

He added that he also wanted to see more power and funding diverted towards local councils. 

Zammit said he wanted to remain an active voice insisting on change in local politics, and had therefore decided to run for office once again on behalf of the Labour Party.

"I'm not doing this because I've been given some promotion or promised a position somewhere, as some may think," he said. 

 "I'm doing this simply because politics is in my blood and Xagħra is in my heart." 

Shortly after Zammit resigned last year, Prime Minister Robert Abela said he had kept in communication with the former mayor and was working to resolve the issues that prompted his resignation. 

In an interview with Times of Malta in 2022, Zammit accused the construction lobby of trying to tank his political career after a poor showing at the general election that same year. 

At the time he had said that he was frustrated by the electorate's short-sightedness on over-development in Gozo and more focused on the immediate gains that property speculation could net them. 

He also claimed that certain developers threatened to silence him because his candidacy was perceived as a spoke in their wheels.