Attard mayor Norbert Pace resigned from his post yesterday because of “personal health problems”, days after all other six councillors signed a no-confidence motion in him.

Mr Pace will remain on the council as an independent member after he also resigned as Nationalist Party representative.

In the no-confidence motion, all the councillors agreed that Mr Pace was not in a position to carry out his duties in the best interest of the community as he was not living up to his responsibilities.

The councillors unanimously nominated deputy mayor Stefan Cordina as Mr Pace’s successor. The motion was meant to be tabled during a council meeting yesterday but Mr Pace had already resigned.

The motion followed a similar one, approved in August 2008, in which the councillors transferred the mayor’s powers onto the deputy mayor until Mr Pace was no longer “indisposed”.

Contacted yesterday, Mr Pace, who served as Attard mayor for the past 11 years, said he felt pressured to resign by the councillors and his party.

“I had health problems and had to resign as I could not carry out my duties as mayor... There was pressure to resign... by the party and the councillors... Once they (the PN) did not accept me as I am, I went independent,” he said.

PN general secretary Paul Borg Olivier said the services rendered by Mr Pace to the PN and to his locality had always been greatly valued.

“Unfortunately, circumstances meant Mr Pace was unable to carry out his duties as mayor in the best interests of the council and in the best interest of the Attard community.

“This has been the reason which led to the tabling of a motion of no confidence, pre-empted by his resignation from the post of mayor,” he said adding: “The PN would accept his membership if he so reconsiders such resignation from the party.”

Last September, Attard Labour councillor John Bonnici resigned from his party following his conviction for having damaged the Attard church parvis.

This means that the council now has three PN members (Stefan Cordina, Luisa Gauci Baluci and Mark Anthony Spiteri), one official PL member (Alfred Zammit), an AD member (Ralph Cassar); while Mr Bonnici and Mr Pace are independent.

Although the PN retains the largest number of councillors, it no longer enjoys a majority. The council’s composition, with a PN mayor, will remain unchanged unless contested through a motion.

In a statement last night, Alternattiva Demokratika welcomed the mayor’s resignation and said the administrative problems at the council had been allowed to develop over a long time.

“It was only through the dedication of some of the councillors that, notwithstanding the difficulties, basic services were still delivered,” AD local government spokesman Carmel Caccopardo said.

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