Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/497863
Tim Diacono Terence Agius, 18, has become Malta's youngest ever mayor, taking charge of the Kirkop local council. "I thank the Kirkop residents for the faith that they have showed in me, and I now need to repay that trust by working hard to give Kirkop what he deserves," Agius told MaltaToday. "The council must work as a united team and focus on one common interest, the residents of Kirkop." Agius was elected as mayor on the Labour ticket after winning 391 votes at the first count. The Kirkop quota had stood at 326 votes. Prior to his election, the young- est mayor in Malta's history was Ian Borg, now eU funds parliamen- tary secretary, who became Dingli's mayor in 2005 at 19 years old. "First we must discover the needs of Kirkop residents, then work to fulfill them, and eventually start working on more ambitious projects, so that Malta can truly be- come optimistic," Agius said, echo- ing his party's slogan for this year's round of local council elections. newly-elected Gharghur mayor Giljan Aquilina, 20, similarly prom- ised to work with his councillors for the benefit of his locality's residents. "The local council will work as a team, and not according to partisan lines, as it has always done," Aquilina, who was elected on the na- tionalist ticket, said. "The Ghar- ghur local council can become an ex- ample of unity to other Maltese local councils." Aquilina won 393 votes at the first count, narrowly edging out Mario Gauci, who had been Gharghur mayor since 1994, by five votes. "I would like to see more youth participating in elections though, particularly now that 16-year-olds can vote as well," he said. maltatoday, Sunday, 19 april 2015 News Youngest mayor in history 'to repay people's trust in him' AD satisfied with overall increases registered in various localities ALTernATTIvA Demokratika chairperson Arnold cassola ex- pressed satisfaction over the overall result obtained by the Green party in the majority of localities it con- tested. AD fielded seven candidates in seven localities across Malta and Gozo. Speaking to journalists at the counting hall in naxxar, cassola said the increases were registered when compared with the local council elections held in 2012. "For the third consecutive time since 2013, AD has registered a pos- itive trend where its support contin- ues to increase," he said. In 2013, AD registered an increase of 40% when compared to the 2008 general elections; in 2014, during the MeP elections, the support in- creased by 30% when compared to 2009. In this year's local elections, AD has registered increases in votes collected by its candidates. The sup- port for ralph Attard, elected for the fourth time, increased to 7.3%. Other positive marginal increases – albeit being lost as they don't meet the quota – were registered in St Paul's Bay, Qormi, Haz-Zebbug, nadur and Qala. "Today's results have been a les- son in how every political party won… and we have won too," cas- sola quipped. He said Alternattiva was satisfied that a week ago yesterday, support- ed by nGOs and civil society, 49% had voted against spring hunting. "AD's relevance is still vey much alive and I am satisfied with the re- sults because we have retained our candidate while registering an over- all increase," he said. Admitting that one of the Green party's problems was that it didn't find enough candidates to field on all districts, cassola urged the gov- ernment to provide more funds to the local councils. AD chairperson Arnold Cassola: "Support for AD continues to increase" At 18, Kirkop's Terence Agius has become Malta's youngest mayor