The shifting allegiances of Gozo’s mayors

Għasri mayor Daniel Attard, who resigned from the Nationalist Party in February 2022, is contesting June’s local election on the Labour Party ticket.

Attard’s decision comes as no surprise, given his high-profile resignation from the PN during the general election campaign two years ago.

The mayor had resigned shortly after posting a photo of himself accompanying Prime Minister Robert Abela during a visit to his locality. He stayed on as an independent mayor and had even addressed a PL election rally in Gozo at the time without, however, confirming whether he was formally joining the party.

Attard’s formal defection to Labour comes hot on the heels of another significant acquisition by the PL in Gozo. Nicky Saliba, a former PN mayor who was elected as an independent five years ago, will now contest the election as a Labour candidate.

Saliba had been elected with a strong vote in 2019, holding the balance of power in the five-seat council.

In Fontana, incumbent PN mayor Saviour Borg will now be running as an independent, while in Għarb, former PN mayor David Apap, who had contested the last election five years ago as an independent will be making a second run as an independent.