PN Għarghur mayor Helen Gauci has lost a confidence vote, which means that PL councillor Mariah Meli is set to take control.

Former PN councillor Francesca Attard, now an independent, joined PL councillors Meli and Christopher Fenech in voting against Gauci.

With only two votes in her favour (Gauci herself and PN councillor Marilena Hassan), the mayor was forced to resign.

The Nationalist Party, and Gauci herself, decried the vote as undemocratic. The PN pointed out that Gauci won 869 first-count votes at the last local council election, more than Meli, Fenech and Attard combined (783).

However, the PL councillors argued they were duty-bound to get rid of Gauci after their repeated complaints of bad governance and lack of transparency were ignored.