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10 10 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 25 MAY 2025 ANALYSIS Gharghur's 60 minutes of… infamy/fame Għargħur has its first Labour mayor since local elections started being held in the mid-1990s. How did this happen and is it a big steal, like the Nationalist Party is saying, or has the PL played by the book? Kurt Sansone tries to sift through the fog of political rhetoric in this explainer on village democracy. THE sleepy village of Għargħur is nuzzled between Naxxar, San Ġwann and Ibraġġ on one of the highest plac- es in Malta. Indeed, the area along the Victoria Lines, where many young lovers go on night-time escapades, is affectionate- ly and bombastically known as Top of the World. The locality, with a population of 3,741, is characterised by sharp con- trasts between the old and the new; the traditional and the contemporary. The traditional Maltese village core of two-storey houses built around the parish church is overshadowed by modern apartment blocks that have mushroomed around it. And the ru- ral life of those who have always lived in Għargħur contrasts with the flashy living of new residents, referred to as 'ta' isfel' ('those from the bottom of the hill'), who moved to the locality over the years. In such a small place, the social ten- sion is palpable—those who produce fireworks for the local feast and those who would rather have fireworks banned; those for whom the peal of church bells is a marker of daily life and those who would rather see churches with no bells. The last time Għargħur made the spotlight was eight years ago when the Planning Authority granted a per- mit for the expansion of the fireworks factory in a nearby valley. The local council did not object with Mayor Ġiljan Aquilina at the time saying the expansion was necessary to en- sure safety and the few who protested were unappreciative of the locality's deep-rooted fireworks tradition. Roll forward to 2025 and Għargħur has suddenly been thrust into the spotlight again because of political trouble brewing in the council. This village held its first local election in 1994 when councils were set up. From blue to red: A defection Għargħur has always elected a Na- tionalist-majority council. The PN has always won an absolute majority of votes that translated into a major- ity of seats—three out of five. Addi- tionally, the PN's share of the vote has always hovered around the 60% mark. The 2024 council election was no different. The PN won 62.3% of the vote against the PL's 37.7%. This re- sult translated into three seats for the PN and two for the PL, with Nation- alist Helen Gauci being confirmed mayor since she obtained the highest number of votes. Gauci's personal tally of 869 votes on the first count was even higher than the votes obtained by all Labour candidates put together. PL candi- dates collectively received 759 votes. And yet, almost a year later, Gau- ci was deposed from mayor and re- placed by Labour councillor Mariah Meli. In one fell swoop, the Għargħur mayorship shifted from blue to red, prompting the PN to cry foul and calling it a coup on democracy. The shift became possible after 27-year-old councillor Francesca At- tard, who was elected on the PN tick- et, resigned from the party and decid- ed to sit as an independent. She cited lack of good governance by Helen Gauci as the reason for her decision. Gauci denies wrongdoing. Attard supported a motion of no confidence in Gauci that was put for- ward by the two PL councillors. In a subsequent vote, Meli was elected mayor with Attard's support, while the latter was elected vice mayor with the backing of the two PL councillors. Sour but legal: A seat short The PN has argued that even if the personal votes obtained by Francesca Attard, their former councillor, are added to the PL's, the alliance would still not have a majority of votes. A brief calculation shows that with- out Attard's 177 votes, the PN would still have an absolute majority of 53.5%, while the PL-independent al- liance would have 46.5%. Even so, these numbers are mean- ingless when it comes to elect a new mayor. What counts is the number of seats a party commands. Gauci had been elected mayor auto- matically last year because the Local Councils Act stipulates that after an election, the person with the most votes from the party with the most councillors, should become mayor. However, after Attard's defection and the vote of no confidence—some- thing that is contemplated at law— the choice of a new mayor depended solely on the vote of councillors, ir- respective of the 2024 election result. Suddenly, the PN found itself one vote short of being able to elect a mayor from within its ranks. The new alliance formed between the PL coun- cillors and Francesca Attard ensured the new mayor was a Labourite. What happened may have been politically sour but it was all within the rules. People's will and betrayal: No dissolution The PN is insisting that to respect the will of the people, the council should be dissolved and a new elec- tion should take place in Għargħur. The request is not unreasonable but the reference to votes as a benchmark for local democracy does jar when one considers that the electoral sys- tem has in the past delivered 'per- verse' council results. On at least two occasions, the par- ty that obtained an absolute majori- ty of votes ended up with a minority of council seats and there never was any outcry to fix the system. This happened to the PN in Mqabba, in 2005, when it obtained 50.7% of the vote but one seat less than the PL; and to the PL in Mellieħa, in 2008, when it obtained 51.5% but elected fewer councillors than the PN. In these two occasions, voter support meant noth- ing when councillors came to elect the mayor. However, beyond the numbers, the PN's call for the Għargħur council to be dissolved raises question marks since it has no basis at law. The Local Councils Act states that a council can be dissolved by the pres- ident upon the advice of the prime minister only if the auditor general flags persistent breaches in financial responsibility; if it continually ignores the law regulating how local councils function; there is a lack of agreement over the choice of mayor; the council is unable to approve its annual esti- mates; or on the basis of a recommen- dation made by an inquiry board set Former Mayor Helen Gauci embraced by Bernard Grech during a protest organised in Gharghur by the party