The decision on who is going to be the next Fgura mayor is expected to be taken after this weekend's village feast.

The meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday evening when the successor to former mayor Darren Marmara will be appointed by Labour councillors who fell out with Mr Marmara and even filed a motion of no confidence, forcing him to resign.

The meeting was postponed twice last week over technicalities in the Local Councils Act, because the agenda and the meeting notice had not been sent five working days before as stipulated by law.

The mayor's seat became vacant after Mr Marmara stepped down on July 16, minutes before facing a motion of no confidence submitted by fellow Labour councillors who complained of "lack of serenity" within the council.

When asked for an explanation, he had said he and his family had received "threats" and that although the motion had the full backing of the Labour Party, he had still not understood what he had done wrong. But he would not elaborate further.

According to law, the councillor who won the second highest number of votes at the last council election should be made mayor. That person is the current deputy mayor Anthony Degiovanni, who garnered 1,359 first count votes in the 2009 election, trailing behind Mr Marmara's 1,570.

However, sources close to the council said Mr Degiovanni is set to refuse the position because he does not have the backing of the majority of Labour councillors.

So Labour has turned its attention to the third in line, who won 652 first count votes -- young law student Byron Camilleri, 23, who was proposed as the next mayor in the motion of no confidence, which was also signed by Mr Degiovanni.

Mr Degiovanni, formerly a senior officer within the Education Department prior to his retirement, has already served as mayor between 1994 and 1997 and again between 2000 and 2004. He would not comment when asked to confirm his intentions.