Julian Galea resigns before illegality probe

The resignation of Julian Galea from the Sliema Local Council was announced on Thursday,  when MaltaToday was investigating illegalities in Galea's snack bar in Valletta.

Galea gained notoriety for his Labour-phobic comments published prior to the 10 March election, in which he was elected by a whisker after winning the last seat of 11 by a mere seven votes.

He was the only surviving member of the previous Sliema council, which was dissolved after the government decided that the situation in the scandal-ridden council was untenable.

The MaltaToday probe revolves around a snack bar in St John's Street, Valletta which Galea runs. Asked by MaltaToday to confirm how long he had been running the snack bar and what kind of licenses the establishment had, Galea said he was not in a position to provide the information and said he would contact his lawyers to obtain the information.

Speaking to MaltaToday on a previous occasion, Galea admitted that he only obtained a permit by The Malta Environment and Planning Authority to cook on site in November 2011. This means that prior to last November, Galea was operating a fully fledged snack bar/restaurant without the necessary MEPA permits. Previous applications were submitted by Galea's father Anthony, however the November 2011 permit was issued in Julian Galea's name.

More importantly, Galea's snack bar holds a Malta Tourism Authority second class snack bar licence with a sub-licence to sell alcoholic beverages from within the establishment. The snack bar also has an ancillary licence to retain tables and chairs outside the premises within a designated area. An MTA spokesperson told MaltaToday that the second class licence was issued on 23 August 2006.

A second class licence does not permit establishments to serve hot food, however Galea's snack bar does serve a wide range of dishes including soup, pasta and fish. A quick look at the reviews posted by customers on tripadvisor.com - a website which allows users to rate establishments they have visited in their travels - confirms that Galea's establishment serves hot food.

One particular user wrote that a lasagne was served cold in the middle, while another user from Italy wrote that the fish ordered at Galea's establishment was overcooked.

MTA also confirmed that the establishment was fined €2,330 for operating without a valid licence in October 2004. MTA also confirmed that the fine was paid accordingly, and that no further action was taken.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Party communications officer Frank Psaila told MaltaToday that the party has accepted Galea's resignation. When asked whether the party held any political activities at the snack bar in Valletta, Psaila said: "The PN has no other comments to make on Mr Galea. All other questions relating to the commercial operations of Mr Galea should be directed solely to Mr Galea himself."

Galea's resignation also raised questions about how will his vacant seat be filled since the elected candidate resigned before taking the oath of office. MaltaToday first contacted the Electoral Commissioner who said that it was not up to the commission to decide what should happen in such circumstances. After being referred to the Department of Local Government, our journalists were once again referred to another entity, this time the Ministry for Home Affairs.

Eight hours later, a spokesperson for the home affairs ministry could not provide an answer and referred the newspaper back to the Electoral Commission. This time, the Chief Electoral Commissioner Saviour Gauci said that since this scenario never occurred since 1996, it is not up to the commission to interpret the law and the commission will only act on the advice of the Attorney General.

The commissioner could not give an indication of what course will be taken to fill the vacant seat. However, he confirmed that the new Sliema local council and the other 34 councils which held elections on 10 March will be officially sworn in on 1 April.