Sliema’s deputy mayor Cyrus Engerer has pledged not to “rock the boat” and continue working for residents, a week after he switched political allegiance.
“I will not rock the boat and will do nothing to destabilise the council and I know for a fact that no Labour councillor will do that. I have spoken to (Joanna) Gonzi, our mayor, and assured her I will continue working for Sliema residents as I have always done,” he said, when contacted.
Insisting that Sliema was “one of the most dormant councils in Malta”, probably because the majority of councillors were elected on the ticket of the party in government, Mr Engerer said he also told Dr Gonzi that the council had to start functioning and act fast on certain issues.
He said a council meeting was held during the past week and there appeared to be understanding between all councillors that the council structure remains unchanged.
Neither Labour nor independent councillors were going to propose a new mayor, he said.
There are five PN councillors on the Sliema council, including the mayor, three Labour councillors and three former PN councillors who switched to independents.
Mr Engerer does not see any conflict given he was elected on the PN ticket.
“I resigned from the PN and joined Labour. However, on the council I am independent. Under our single transferable vote system, people vote for the person rather than the party. Councillors do not work for one party or another but work for the residents. They chose me for my abilities and because they knew me, as an individual, not as a party. All 11 of us work for the same aim, whether they are Nationalists, Labourites or have no party.”
He continued: “I have spoken to residents and they see no conflict. I can understand that people are disappointed but I think they should not channel their disappointment at me but at the Prime Minister.”
The Local Councils Act clearly stipulates how a mayor and deputy mayor are chosen but makes no mention of the way forward once a candidate who filled one of these two positions resigns from the party on whose ticket he was elected.
The law states that the candidate who received the most first-count votes from the party which achieved the majority of votes automatically becomes the locality’s mayor. Likewise, the candidate with the second-largest number of first-count votes from the party which got the majority of votes automatically becomes the deputy mayor.
The law is not specific on what should happen if one of these two people resigns from the party on whose ticket they were elected.
There are two precedents in this case. Former Sliema mayor Nikki Dimech had resigned from the party once criminal charges were filed against him in 2009 but hung on to his post of mayor until a motion of no confidence was moved against him on the council.
The then deputy mayor, Joanna Gonzi, replaced him and Mr Engerer assumed the deputy’s role.
Mr Engerer resigned suddenly from the PN last week over the way Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had voted in Parliament in the second reading of the divorce law.
mxuereb@timesofmalta.com