Attard mayor resigns ahead of no confidence vote

Attard's PN mayor Norbert Pace has called it a day after over 11 years serving as the council's mayor, claiming he is the victim of "envy" and "pretensions to the mayorship" by fellow councillors.

In a letter sent to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi this afternoon, Pace said he was stepping down as mayor of the PN stronghold and also resigning as a member of the PN, the party he has been active in since his teens.

“Due to unfortunate circumstances, and no respect shown from the party for all I have done throughout all these years, I am resigning from my post as Mayor and as a party member,” Norbert Pace told the Prime Minister in his letter.

But the former mayor had also lost the favour of the entire council, which yesterday presented a motion of no confidence against him. PN councillor Marco Spiteri told MaltaToday that he had the backing of the party. "We felt there were personal circumstances that led us councillors to take the decision to present this motion."

The motion also has the backing of Labour councillors and AD councillor Ralph Cassar. Alternattiva Demokratika said a motion presented back in August 2008 was presented to elect deputy mayor Stefan Cordina to mayor since Pace had been regularly indisposed.

“Since the situation remained unchanged for three years and the mayor is not assuming his responsibilities, the council had to move a motion of no confidence and nominate Cordina to the mayorship,” AD’s local councils spokesperson Carmel Cacopardo said.

PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier said he regretted Pace's resignation, but that there were "circumstances which led Mr Pace to be unable to carry out his duties as Mayor in the best interests of the council and in the best interest of the Attard community. This has been the reason which led to the tabling of a motion of no confidence, preempted by his resignation from the post of mayor."

Borg Olivier said the services rendered by  Pace to the PN and to his locality "have always been greatly valued by the Nationalist Party."
 
Ian Castaldi Paris, the president of the PN's College of Councillors said he did not know about the resignation, but told MaltaToday he "thanked Norbert Pace for his service to the Attard community."

With his resignation, Pace will now sit on the council as an independent councillor, stripping the PN of its majority within the council - leaving the council split between three PN councillors, two Labour councillors, an Alternattiva Demokratika councillor and Pace as an independent.

Contacted by MaltaToday, Pace said he was left with no choice but to resign his mayorship and from the party "due to the way the PN is treating mayors and loyal activists."

He also blamed PN secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier for pushing him to resign, saying that Borg Olivier actually asked him to step down and make way for a younger PN councillor.

Pace is claiming that Borg Olivier told him he could stay on as a council member and still receive the mayor's remuneration, given that he is unemployed. “I rejected this proposal and insisted that this was illegal and could never accept it,” Pace told MaltaToday.

But Borg Olivier told MaltaToday that Pace could have never stayed on as councilor and receive the mayor’s honoraria from the Council.

Pace was last elected in 2009 with the highest vote-count of 662 votes. In 1998, then the PN club's barman, he was elected mayor by councillors (the law had not yet been changed to elect mayor the councillor elected with the highest number of votes), replacing historian Prof. Henry Frendo who had received the highest number of first-count votes.