Reports allege Robert Abela blocked Marsaxlokk Labour councillor’s resignation eight months ago

Reports by NET news on Thursday have claimed that eight months ago, Marsaxlokk Labour councillor Daniel Zerafa resigned from the council and the party, but Prime Minister Robert Abela did not allow him to step down in order to preserve Labour’s majority in the locality.

According to the report published Thursday ahead of the final mass meetings, NET news is alleging that serious tensions have emerged between the Labour party and the Marsaxlokk Local Council, after Zerafa reportedly resigned from both the party and the council in July 2025, but his resignation was never accepted.

The Marsaxlokk Local Council is made up of three Labour councillors, one Nationalist councillor and one independent councillor.

The report claimed that during a local council meeting held on 14 April this year, Zerafa insisted that he had resigned from the Labour Party but had not been allowed to leave because, in the words allegedly attributed to Prime Minister Robert Abela, it would create “hassle.”

NET News also reported that relations between the Labour leadership and the Marsaxlokk Local Council have become increasingly strained, to the extent that Mayor Steven Grech allegedly had no idea that Abela was visiting the locality on one occasion.

According to the report, when Grech asked a member of the Prime Minister’s security team whether the Labour leader was coming to Marsaxlokk, he allegedly received no reply.

During the same council meeting, Grech reportedly insisted that the situation could not continue as it was.

The report further claimed that the mayor warned he too could eventually become an independent councillor after the general election, while arguing that the locality’s challenges were never resolved.

NET News also reported that Grech complained that Marsaxlokk’s masterplan was continually being sidelined.

During the 14 April meeting, the mayor also reportedly made it clear that the council was opposed to the construction of the Aquaculture Centre building at Port Ruman.

However, according to the report, tensions between the Labour Party and the Marsaxlokk Local Council intensified further in the weeks that followed after Robert Abela allegedly ignored the Labour mayor’s appeals and even included plans for the project in the party’s electoral manifesto.

RSS Feed Source: Independent Malta Reports allege Robert Abela blocked Marsaxlokk Labour councillor’s resignation eight months ago