'Borg Olivier told me that if I didn't sign the motion against mayor, I would be expelled' - PN councillor
Nationalist secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier, currently in the eye of a storm over his alleged pressure on Sliema councillors, may have wielded his heavy hand with another councillor.
Sliema PN councillor Edward Cuschieri yesterday told MaltaToday that Borg Olivier had warned him that “failure to sign the [no confidence] motion [against the mayor] would mean we won’t consider you a member of the PN any longer.”
Cuschieri put his signature to a motion of no confidence in mayor Nikki Dimech, who on Wednesday resigned from the PN.
Dimech claims he admitted to accusations of demanding a commission on a council contract “under duress”, earning him an expulsion by Paul Borg Olivier from the Nationalist Party.
A motion of no-confidence presented by PN councillors against Dimech on Wednesday evening is hamstrung by a missing signature, that of PN councillor Patrick Pace, who is on holiday in Russia and whom Dimech claims is squarely on his side.
But PN councillor Edward Cuschieri yesterday declared he signed the motion to impeach Dimech to “toe the party line”.
Cuschieri said Borg Olivier warned him he could be expelled if he didn’t sign the motion. “I signed because I was elected on the PN ticket and I obeyed the directive.”
Asked whether he agreed with the motion against Nikki Dimech, he replied: “That is the PN’s opinion and I cannot respond for that… Nikki Dimech’s case is not clear. Perhaps he comes out of the whole issue with flying colours. Believe me I really don’t know, but I always worked well with the mayor. I never had any problems.”
While it is unclear whether Cuschieri will be voting for the motion against Dimech, the same motion is signed by councillor Sandra Camilleri, who resigned in tandem with Dimech on Wednesday.
She signed the motion in the now infamous ‘Lady Di meeting’, but said she won’t support it after being coerced by PN secretary-general Paul Borg Oivier.
That would leave the five PN councillors handicapped in their bid to remove Dimech. Labour has three councillors, who can be expected not to support any move by the PN to reconfigure itself inside the traditional stronghold.