Bernard Grech has been deemed as idoneous to contest for the post of leader of the Natioanlist Party, the party’s electoral commissioner said in a statement.

Peter Fenech said in a statement that the Chairperson of the PN’s Candidate’s Commission Colin Bowman sent its due diligence report on Bernard Grech to the party’s electoral commission and to its administrative council as per the PN’s statute.

The conclusion made by the Candidate’s Commission was that, based on the replies to questions provided by Grech, the current PN leader is idoneous to re-contest for the position of Nationalist Party leader.

Fenech said that there, with the conclusion of this due diligence process, the nomination period for the post of PN leadership has been opened and therefore Grech can file his nomination.

Grech’s nomination must be seconded by three MPs, five local councillors, ten members of the executive, 50 members of the general council, and 50 PN members, as per the party’s statute.

Grech will be contesting for the role of PN leadership alone, something which he has previously said is a sign that nobody feels that they could have done better than him in the 2022 general election – which the PN lost by another landslide.

He has been PN leader since the latter part of 2020, having taken over from Adrian Delia following a bitter split within party ranks.

That split has since appeared to cool, and Grech has in the weeks following the general election defeat said multiple times that things in the party need to change, particularly as it seeks to gain control of its €32 million financial debts.