Updated with mayor's reaction: 9.25pm
The resignation of St Paul’s Bay councillor Robert Piscopo last night came after he had repeatedly voted against measures put forward by the Nationalist Party members, the PN said.
Addressing a press conference,party local councils spokesman Robert Cutajar said that on Thursday evening, a number of votes had to be taken on different issues - Mr Piscopo and a second PN councillor, Joseph Vella voted with the Labour Party councillors.
At the end of the meeting, Dr Piscopo handed in his resignation as PN councillor but will continue to serve independently.
On Mr Vella, the spokesman said that PN leader Adrian Delia would be passing on the case to the administrative council, which will decide what action should be taken.
Mr Cutajar said that the pair had also repeatedly called for the resignation of mayor Graziella Galea.
During a meeting with Dr Delia, Mr Cutajar said, the PN leader made it clear that the party would not accept any form of threats from anyone.
Asked whether the resignations had anything to do with Dr Delia's leadership, Mr Cutajar denied this was the case, insisting that the councillors’ issues with the council had been a long time coming.
At present, the council is made up of six Labour Party councillors, five from the Nationalist Party and an independent councillor, with Mr Cutajar pointing out that the elector commission would make its call for nominations for the sixth PN councillor in the coming days.
Read: Thake resigns from council, saying Delia 'not fit for purpose'
On the resignation of David Thake, Mr Cutajar said that while he would no longer be serving as a councillor, the former radio host had never voted against decisions by the PN.
Piscopo reacts strongly
Dr Piscopo took umbrage at the PN's statement, claiming that the real issue was the problems encountered within the council due to the mayor, noting that she and her father were both part of the party’s executive.
"A real leader would take in stride constructive criticism especially since it is aimed to improve a situation which in the locality of Saint Paul’s Bay is well known.
"The 'threat', if anything, should be the actual problem itself, not the persons pointing out the problem. The party should aim to tackle the problem at its root. It is inconceivable that the local council should be allowed to be hijacked by one individual who apparently has the blessing of the party. The party is made up of members. If the harmony and stability of the party is undermined so is the leadership. Sincerely hope this will not prove to be the case. At the early stages of the current PN leadership, I honestly think that action will be taken to redress the situation and set the trend," he said.
Mayor's statement
In a statement, mayor Graziella Galea said Dr Piscopo had from the beginning shown he was not willing to work with her for the benefit of the locality.
Dr Piscopo, she said, had not attended for nearly half the meetings held since the election and when he attended he mostly did only for part of the meeting.
At a recent meeting he got up from the table halting the meeting while he stayed out of the building for close to an hour.
Ms Galea said that decisions against the town and its residents were yesterday taken by Dr Piscopp, Mr Vella and Labour councillors.
Mr Vella used unsuitable language during yesterday’s meeting repeatedly banging on the council’s table.
She said that rather than admitting they did not work in the positions they were trusted with, certain councillors tried to shift the blame on the council leadership.
Ms Galea said she always did her best for work to be done and even got out of hospital for a meeting, which could still not be held as there was no quorum.
She promised to continue to do her duty to her locality and residents, who had shown their support particularly in the last hours.