The anti-Delia group in the Nationalist Party today said that ahead of what it described as a “historic” vote there are “damaging, divisive manoeuvres” which should be stopped.
But, in a counter statement, the president of the PN election commission, Francis Zammit Dimech, said that a meticulous verification process on the list of eligible councillors had been carried out and had been concluded on 19 July (yesterday).
In a statement, the group noted that four days before the early voting exercise takes place and one week before the actual voting day, it had not yet received the full list of people eligible to vote. The group also lamented the lack of details such as change of addresses and ID card numbers which were missing. This was making it impossible for the group to reach out to these councillors.
From analysis carried out, the number of councillors which changed since Adrian Delia was elected leader in September 2017 was 500 from a total of 1,530. The 33% change will have an impact on the vote which will be taken in the coming days, aimed to see whether the party general council still supports Delia’s leadership.
The group pointed out that some councillors did not know that they had been replaced, including by people who were close to the leader. This included Julian Micallef who, the group said, was behind a number of fake profiles set up to attack MPs and the former party leader.
This confusion does not bode well for the vote to be taken and reflects badly on the party, the group said, appealing for these manoeuvres to stop.
The statement was signed by Emvin Bartolo, Ivan Bartolo, Martin Musumeci, Emma Portelli Bonnic and Mark Anthony Sammut.
In reply, the president of the PN’s electoral commission, Francis Zammit Dimech, said that the whole list of eligible voters has been verified by the commission, which has a representation of the different factions of the party – those who want to confirm Delia as leader and those who don’t.
The verification process was meticulous and ended on 19 July.
The commission had to verify the councillors’ list as compiled by 4 July, that is the day when the general council was convened for 27 July. The commission has no right to contest how the sectional committees chose the councillors to represent them from the various localities in the party general council, so long as no changes were made after 4 July.
The commission is giving councillors until Tuesday at noon to contest any anomaly in the list of councillors. Complaints may be addressed by email to [email protected] and the commission will carry out the necessary checks according to the party statute.
The commission is also giving time until Wednesday at noon for anyone who has not yet paid the membership fee to do so at his or her convenience.
The commission said that voting will take place on Saturday between 10am and 6pm, or early voting on Wednesday at the Dar Centrali or the party’s office in Sannat between 5pm and 8pm.