Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/678126
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 11 MAY 2016 News C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Euro MToday.pdf 1 30/03/2016 10:26 Bonnici submits nomination for Labour deputy leader JUSTICE Minister Owen Bonnici has officially submitted his nomi- nation, becoming the third candi- date vying for the post of Labour deputy leader for party affairs. Economy Minister Chris Car- dona and former Labour president Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi submit- ted their nominations on Monday. The party's executive secretary Lydia Abela was encouraged to run but de- cided to stay out of the race. Nominations closed yesterday. The first phase of the internal elec- tion will take place between 9 and 10 June, and candidates must achieve 50% of the quota established in the elec- tion. A run-off will be held a day later if nobody is elected in the first round. Grima resigns tourism role after suing newspapers in 'London cockroach' libel Former Labour minister Joe Grima asked by Prime Minister to resign as Malta's delegate to the World Tourism Organisation after comments on Labour mayor Sadiq Khan drew outrage MAT THEW VELLA JOE Grima has re- signed his post as World Tourism Or- ganisation delegate after a Facebook outburst on the election of London mayor Sadiq Khan was described as appalling by the tourism minister. Minister Ed- ward Zammit Lewis described as "appalling" comments by Grima against Khan. Grima, a for- mer Labour min- ister for industry, lashed out at Khan – London's first Muslim mayor – going as far as saying that his advent would bring in "cockroaches" to Lon- don, a reference to Islamist ex- tremists. "The writing is on the wall. The cockroaches have invaded dear old London. London- ers thought they were but- tering their bread by voting in an Islamic Mayor but with the butter they allowed in the cockroaches," Grima wrote on Facebook. When asked by MaltaToday, Zammit Lewis said he disa- greed with Joe Grima's com- ments about Sadiq Khan and that he finds them "simply ap- palling". Joe Grima has now sued MaltaToday, The Times, and Daphne Caruana Galizia, the Malta Independent columnist, for libel. Grima took umbrage at Mal- taToday's reporting, insisting that he never called Khan a cockroach but "that by voting for Khan, Londoners opened their doors to cockroaches". Grima has repeatedly found himself in hot water as a re- sult of comments made on Fa- cebook, many a time offensive and racist. Labour mayor Khan beat To- ry Zac Goldsmith by 1,310,143 votes to 994,614, ending eight years of Conservative control of City Hall. According to the BBC, Khan's victory gave him the largest personal mandate of any politician in UK history. Khan is a former Labour MP and minister: he pledged to freeze fares on the capital 's transport network and build more affordable housing, but also promising to champion business and cut taxes on en- terprise. Following the election of the first Muslim mayor in London, Joe Grima said voters 'allowed in the cockroaches' Justice Minister Owen Bonnici (centre) submitting his nomination at the Labour Party headquarters in Hamrun