A newly-elected independent councillor is set to play a crucial role in deciding the next mayor of Mellieħa.

Matthew Borg Cuschieri’s election to the Mellieħa local council yesterday means the northern town’s representation has swung from a 5-4 Labour majority to 4-4-1 (four PL, four PN and one independent).

This means that the choice of who will succeed Dario Vella, who wasn’t re-elected to the local council at all, as Mellieħa mayor is still up in the air and Borg Cuschieri could well play the role of kingmaker. PL and PN will essentially be forced to negotiate with an independent councillor, a similar situation as in Ħaż-Żebbug, thanks to the re-election of Steve Zammit Lupi and the election of his mother Lilibeth.

Borg Cuschieri told Lovin Malta that he is keeping his options open and that he plans to discuss the way forward with the eight other Mellieħa councillors.

“I believe we are in a political situation where the two big parties aren’t obtaining the level of support they used to get in the past,” he said, noting the popularity of other independent local council candidates, such as the Zammit Lupis.

“My family and I are very much involved in Mellieħa through NGOs and voluntary organisations, we are well respected from both sides of the political spectrum, and when I decided to contest as an independent, the people just loved it,” Borg Cuschieri said of his own campaign.

“It was also the right time, as there is currently a feeling that no one is totally happy with PL but don’t believe the PN can govern either. Many people are also fed up with partisanship in local councils and several valid people don’t participate in the elections because the norm is that you have to get in through the structures of PL or PN. We’re trying to change this mentality.”