PN general election candidate Kevin Cassar on Saturday announced that he had resigned from the party, saying that he was concerned at the direction the PN was taking, and which he did not wish to follow.

The surgeon, who contested on the 2nd and 6th electoral districts, sent a letter to PN Assistant Secretary General Jean Pierre Debono, in which he told him that he was resigning over serious doubts on new PN leader Adrian Delia.

He said that while he acknowledged that Delia was elected in a democratic process, he had serious doubts about his actions and behaviour.

He said Delia had not addressed these concerns in a serious manner, particularly those on the Jersey account. Cassar said he also has serious doubts on Delia’s financial position, his debts and how the party leader could possibly repay them without entering into agreements or obligations that might pose a conflict of interest.

He also referred to the amount Delia owes to the taxman, saying that a person who failed to pay his taxes was not suitable for the post of party leader. Cassar said he also has doubts on some companies Delia was involved with in his work as a lawyer. “Delia had also told us before he was elected that he had a solution about his parliamentary seat, which was not the case. This raises serious doubts about his honesty.”

The former candidate said the most worrying factor was Delia’s talk of fighting hate. This, he said, was being used to justify attacks on those who criticized Delia, including journalists and people within the party.

In an accompanying Facebook post, Cassar said the reasons for his resignation were “not the offensive personal insults, the obscene language, the attempts at intimidation and aggression that I have been subjected to by some who purport to be PN supporters but the worrying direction I am seeing the party going - a direction that I would not like to follow. I am of course very disappointed to see so called PN supporters pour such opprobrium, hate and aggression - something that I did not experience even from political adversaries. I am sure that there will be some who will be pleased to learn of my resignation from the party - for those who feel otherwise I apologise for having to withdraw at this stage.”

In the meantime, PN candidate and Executive Committee member Caroline Galea has called for the election to be declared null. “Since there is a serious allegation involving the possibility of vote rigging/influencing of votes in the election of the PN Leader, this election should be declared null and void forthwith and an internal enquiry conducted with urgency,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

Her post came after the PN’s electoral commission found that Assistant Secretary Jean Pierre Debono had handled proxies with forged signature to collect voting documents in the leadership election. There has been no suggestion that Debono forged the signatures.

“The Nationalist Party stands for good governance and transparency and no PN Leader should accept to start his tenure in the shade of these allegations. Adrian Delia, win the respect of us councillors by showing us the extent of your measure of principles, good governance and transparency. Love of the party comes from actions not words.”

In the meantime the PN’s electoral commission headed by former EU commissioner Joe Borg handed in its resignation en masse on the day before the election, with the resignation becoming effective after the result was announced. A new electoral commission will be set up by the PN executive and it will be responsible for holding the election for the two deputy leaders in the coming weeks.