Francis Zammit Dimech became the second PN veteran to offer to act as a mediator in a current dispute between two factions in the party.

The internal rift in the PN has widened in the past days, with MPs openly backing leader Adrian Delia in his request to Simon Busuttil for the latter to suspend himself from the PN parliamentary group, while others also going public with their support to Busuttil.

Delia’s request came hours after the publication of the conclusions of the Egrant inquiry which found no evidence of a connection between the Prime Minister and his wife with a company opened in Panama. With Busuttil having led an electoral campaign on what has now emerged to be an untruth, Delia called on Busuttil to suspend himself, a request Busuttil rejected.

On Tuesday, Chris Said – who contended the leadership post with Delia – said he was willing to act as a mediator in the dispute between the two factions.

This morning, in comments given to The Malta Independent, even Francis Zammit Dimech offered to try to bridge the differences.

“Yesterday I went to Dar Centrali to speak to Adrian (Delia) about this matter and to offer to act as mediator, even suggesting an honourable way forward for all,” he said in his comments.

“I think he was open to the idea but I ended without a mandate to begin any form of mediation, at least for the time being. I am very saddened about the present state of affairs within the party and will keep trying to offer all that I can towards reconciliation and making our party strong again,” Zammit Dimech said.

Zammit Dimech is considered to be among the most loyal members of the party, in which he has militated for decades. He was elected to Parliament for the first time in 1987 and occupied various ministerial posts under both Eddie Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi. He is currently serving the party as an MEP.