Engerer appointed Sliema deputy mayor, Nikki Dimech absent for council meeting

The councillor was automatically appointed deputy mayor, as the councillor with the second highest number of votes after Joanna Gonzi, who is now Sliema mayor. Former mayor Nikki Dimech was voted out by a motion of no confidence moved by PN councillors.

Dimech himself was not present for the council meeting, after facing criminal charges in court earlier this afternoon over allegedly demanding a commission from a council contractor.

Labour councillors raised objections since a motion of no confidence they moved against Engerer could not be discussed at the start of the council meeting. The director-general of local government, Martin Bugelli, was asked to intervene and explain that Engerer would have to be automatically appointed deputy mayor, while any motion of no confidence would have to be presented after a deputy mayor is appointed.

The law itself is unclear since there are two conflicting clauses on the election of a deputy mayor when the post is vacant. An Omnibus Act to be passed in parliament will remove the contradictory clause.

Labour councillor Martin Debono threatened to leave the council room for not having been informed that the council's executive secretary had asked for Bugelli's guidance on the matter.

Newly-appointed mayor Joanna Gonzi moved swiftly onto business, after informing councillors that the council had been paying thousands in waste collection fees every month. The mayor was to sign a waste recovery contract with Green MT, which had been left unfinished since March 2010, when former mayor Nikki Dimech refused to sign the contract.

Sliema also has less than 5% of its €900,000 governmental allocation in working capital, Gonzi said, when the legal minimum for every council is of 10%. The mayor said the council could not pay all its pending invoices as things stood, and that she would be presenting a three-year business plan for the situation to recover.