Sort out St Paul's Bay council mess, Justice Minister orders

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici has stepped in to try and resolve chaos within St Paul's Bay local council, ordering the locality's most senior councillor to assume the mayorship.  In a statement issued by the Justice Ministry on Saturday afternoon, Dr Bonnici said that he had issued instructions for the councillor from the party which won the previous election and who had received the highest number of first-count votes after the previous mayor to assume the position.  This, he said, was in line with stipulations in the Local Councils Act as well as a civil court decision taken earlier this month.  He said the council must now call an urgent meeting to appoint a mayor and deputy mayor, to ensure the local council resumed its functions and served residents of the coastal town.  In a statement, the Nationalist Party welcomed Dr Bonnici's statement, saying that it appeared there was agreement that the town's mayor should come from within PN ranks and that the council could now thrash out a deal.  The PN obtained the most votes during the 2015 council elections.   St Paul's Bay local council has descended into chaos over the past months, with two Nationalist Party councillors...