The Nationalist Party’s Administrative Council will meet once again on Thursday to discuss an as yet unknown agenda.

Sources speaking to The Malta Independent said that the council did not disclose the agenda because some of its members are supporters of Adrian Delia, who is contesting for the party leadership.

The president of the Administrative Council, Karol Aquilina, refused to deny that the meeting will take place this Thursday or that it will concern Delia, in spite of being pressed to provide the information.

“I will not comment; I do not have to tell you if a meeting is taking place. You clearly have a story from a source so run with that. I will not be your source.”

On 30 August, three days prior to the first-round election, the council had urged Delia to reconsider his position as a candidate for the leadership of the party, after discussing a report that was drawn up by the Ethics Committee, of which Aquilina is also an ex-ufficio member.

Delia stood his ground and did not comply, saying that the Ethics Committee had found nothing untoward in his regard and that it was the Administrative Committee, which he described as part of the establishment, that took it upon itself to call for him to back down from the leadership race.

The Ethics Committee was formed by the Administrative Council on 28 August and given two days to draw up a report on the four candidates after claims were made against Delia by Daphne Caruana Galizia that he was involved in money laundering through a prostitution racket. Delia has filed five libel suits against Caruana Galizia.

Delia has vehemently denied the claims. He previously acknowledged that he represented a Maltese client who was indeed the landlord of at least one property used for illicit practices, but insisted that his client/landlord was not to be held responsible for the actions of his tenants.

Two days after Delia garnered the most votes from PN councillors in the first election, Aquilina said that the PN should not be taken over by freemasons in a social media post published. He later said he was not referring to any person in particular, with Delia challenging him to substantiate his claims, which Aquilina did not.

Thursday’s meeting will take place in between a PN Parliamentary group meeting at 3pm and a PN Executive meeting at 6:30pm concerning the upcoming election.  Later on in the evening the two contenders will have their last debate on Net TV before voting day on Saturday.

The newsroom has been informed that the executive are bound to meet at least once a month and it appears the meeting had been scheduled.

The parliamentary group meeting is being held after a long lull, two weeks before Parliament is set to resume its business.