What happened in Siggiewi had an effect on elections throughout Malta, mayor says

A court decision to reverse the address changes for individuals registered as living in an unfinished block in Siggiewi not only impacted how the locality's residents voted in the local elections, but also had an impact on the whole of Malta, newly-e

By: independent.com.mt

Jul 07 2024
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What happened in Siggiewi had

During the election campaign, the Nationalist Party filed court cases after it was discovered that around 100 voters had been listed as residing in a block in Siggiewi which, however, was as yet uninhabitable. Twenty-two magistrates all came to the same conclusion to have the exercise reversed.

In 2019, the Labour Party had won the Siggiewi locality by a handful of votes but, in the 2024 election held last month, the PN flipped the council in its favour. In the local council elections, the PN whittled down Labour’s 47,000-vote advantage in 2019 to 20,000, while in the EP election the Labour Party’s win was of just 8,400 votes, when in 2019 it had won with a 42,000 difference.

In the interview, Borg said that he is not insinuating that the swing in various localities to a Nationalist Party majority happened because of that situation, but he said that he believes that what happened in that case “served as an eye-opener which had a hand in the election results”.

He said that the court’s decision was “in favour of righteousness and the residents of Siggiewi”, and recalled how the PN had referred to this situation as a case of electoral fraud from the beginning. He noted that after the court’s decision, Prime Minister Robert Abela was asked if he would apologize to the voters in Siggiewi. Borg mentioned that the Prime Minister responded by saying that the PN should apologize for taking vulnerable people to court to discuss the case.

“With all due respect,” the Siggiewi mayor said, “it was the Labour Party which had these people brought to court as a result of its actions which led to the case having to be heard in the first place. Had this not happened, these people would not have had to go to court”.

Borg emphasised that the crux of the issue in this situation was not about the people who were given accommodation in these apartments, but rather that it was about “the system of electoral fraud which was put in place by the government leading up to the election”. He added that he never needed to know the names or faces of the involved voters, as the fight was against the “abusive system which was sustained by the government and the Minister for Social Accommodation, Roderick Galdes”.

Borg was then asked if he believes that the recent election result across Malta can potentially serve as a stepping stone for the PN to mount a strong campaign against the PL in the next general election.

He responded by referring to Opposition Leader Bernard Grech’s frequent emphasis on the concept of hope in his post-election speeches. Borg said that the election results will serve as a sign of hope for the PN that it is capable of leading the country in the right direction. He said that there was a period where there was a considerable gap in votes between the PL and PN, but that the gap has now become significantly smaller, much smaller than pre-election surveys were showing.

“This result serves as a sign of hope for the PN to continue working and strive towards being able to lead the country.”

Borg was asked about his thoughts regarding the potential reasons behind the difference in the voter gap between the European Parliament and Local Council elections. In the European elections, there was a gap of around 8,000 votes between PN and PL, while in the Local Council elections this gap was around 20,000.

He responded by saying that in the European Parliament election, there was the factor of independent candidates, who received more votes overall than independent candidates in the Local Council elections. He said that these independent candidates took a significant chunk of votes from the PL, which contributed to the lower voter gap.

“Personally, I prefer to look at the 20,000 voter gap as this shows me that the party needs to work more and be even more in touch with the people,” he said. “We have made improvements, and we have moved forward; something satisfactory from this election is that there was an improvement in PN votes in almost every locality throughout Malta and Gozo.”

He said that aside from the third European Parliament seat and the additional council majorities that the PN won, the additional seats gained in other localities bodes well for the PN as the party now has more representatives in more localities.

Mayor of Siggiewi

When asked what it means to him personally to be elected as mayor by the residents of Siggiewi, the newly-elected mayor replied that it is a great honour, as he was born in the locality and his family is from Siggiewi. He continued that he is proud that people have put their faith in him, and added that he has already been involved and assisting in the community for years. “It is a big responsibility,” he said, “this is my third legislature as I have previously served as deputy mayor.”

He remarked that the word he would use to describe how he feels about being able to serve his locality as mayor is “satisfaction”.

Borg was then asked what some of his primary priorities are for the coming years working alongside the other councillors.

He said that from the first day, the PN candidates agreed that they would work together as a team and cooperate on proposals in order to ultimately have them enacted.

He explained that throughout the campaign, the PN focused on five principal priorities. Those priorities are security, the environment, culture and an attentive local council.

Speaking first on security, he stated that he is not only referring to crime or law enforcement but also to issues like transport security. He said that the time has come for not just Siggiewi, but for every locality to have a holistic plan for traffic management. He continued that the streets are often car-bound, “meaning that cars have taken over” and so attention needs to be given to how pedestrians can be accommodated.

Moving on to the environment as a priority, Borg said that he wants to “clamp down on a number of aspects”. He said that Siggiewi has one of the largest rural zones in Malta, and that the locality has a number of cases of industrial abuses on which there needs to be proper enforcement.

He remarked that a principal point the PN had leading up to the election was that they would be planting and cultivating 3,000 trees in the Siggiewi area within the first three years following the election. “3,000 trees is not a small number,” he commented, “it is a good initiative and we will be working with local farmers on this project”.

Among the priorities is that of culture, which he said is an important aspect of the locality’s identity especially when it comes to local gatherings and events. “The culture of the different localities is what gives them their identity … We want people who come here to experience the culture of Siggiewi.”

The last priority he mentioned is about having an attentive council that serves the people. He explained that by this he means that the council should listen to the people and pay attention to their daily needs.

“Unfortunately, at certain levels, digitalisation for effective communication with local councils has not developed to a good level. There are some councils where not even the Facebook page or messenger works properly, so the only way to get in contact with them is through email or telephone call, and today there are many other means.”

As part of this, he also referred to cleanliness as an important issue to focus on. He said that in the case of Siggiewi, cleanliness has fallen back over the last couple of years, and so it is an issue that needs to be tackled head-on and properly dealt with.

On the matter of concerns regarding local councils losing their strength or autonomy, Borg said that the councils have power according to what the government allows them, not what the people give them.

“The notion that people are uninterested in local councils is not true, he said, “when people experience something like the garbage bags not being collected, they call the local council, not a ministry or other entity”.

He then discussed the implementation of regional councils, stating that he supports the system. However, he noted that the regions were intended to transfer power from the government to the councils. “Instead, what has happened is that these regional councils have taken on a number of initiatives from the local councils, such as waste management, which I believe should have remained a responsibility of local councils.”

The Siggiewi mayor said that he has no problem with the principle of the government assisting local councils, but that he would prefer if the government, instead, gave funds to local councils so that they had the resources to handle necessary projects such as waste management. He added that if there are instances where local councils are not functioning properly, then in that situation government intervention may be necessary to resolve the issue.

“Mayors and councillors need to be given the ability and strength to work. Give strength to the responsible councillors, and they will enact their proposals.”