The PN’s leadership election is likely to take up to the second week of September, PN Secretary General Francis Zammit Dimech told The Malta Independent.
“Realistically we need to wrap up the leadership election in time for the Independence Day celebrations. That should be our aim.” He stressed that the exact dates will be decided by the PN’s Electoral Commission.
The General Council voted on Saturday for a leadership election to be held, rather than for a confirmation vote on Adrian Delia’s leadership. Delia, once the result was known, immediately said that he will contest the internal election.
This newsroom also spoke to the President of the PN’s Executive Committee Alex Perici Calascione, who also said that the race could potentially take up until the first or second week of September.
Perici Calascione explained that the Electoral Commission will need to issue a call where people interested in the post will submit their names. This newsroom is informed by party sources that such a call will need to be made prior to Tuesday evening.
Perici Calascione said that a due diligence process on candidates will then be held, and that a separate commission will set out what sort of due diligence exercise they deem appropriate.
Following this, the process will depend on the number of candidates. If there are just two, the vote will go straight to the General Convention. If there are more than two candidates, a General Council will need to be called where a vote will take place to whittle down the number of contenders to two, he said. The two who receive the most votes in the Council, will then go before the General Convention, where the tesserati (paid up members) will cast their vote.
A number of people have been touted as potential contenders for the leadership race, such as PN MEP Roberta Metsola, PN MP Therese Comodini Cachia, and lawyers Joe Giglio and Bernard Grech. Adrian Delia already said he will contest.
People close to Metsola confirmed that all options are on the table, when asked whether she is considering running for the post of PN Leader. “This was never about her personal ambition, but about how to make the PN a government in waiting. At the moment she is in discussions with people within the party on the way forward and on how to heal the party,” they said.
Writing on Facebook, Metsola said that this is an important moment in the history of the party.
“As I said before the vote, this is not the time for personal ambitions, but the aim should be the best interest of the party and the country. This is what I will be discussing in the coming hours. From my end, I will consider all choices and I will not exclude anything. As I always said and did, I am ready to do my part wherever it is needed. In the coming house we need to discuss where we will head and from where we will start off. I want the road ahead towards a serious and credible party include everyone through profound discussions with respect so that we will start working for unity now, and heal our wounds.”
PN MP Therese Comodini Cachia posted a video on Facebook on Sunday morning. She welcomed the PN’s General Council decision on Saturday to hold a leadership election, stating that it is an opportunity given to the members to work together in order to shape the present and the future of the Nationalist Party.
In a Facebook post, Comodini Cachia said that she “will continue to be a catalyst to bring together and give direction to the mosaic of people in order to shape a solid future for the Nationalist Party.”
“I will continue to contribute within the Nationalist party to ensure that it is once again a strong, credible, united and serious party,” she said.
“In order to ensure that this happens, we have to work with all the talent that the Nationalist party has to offer, talent that is already present as well as new ones.”
She added that “just as the voters who elected the Nationalist party in government represent a wide range of ideas, so too the future of the party lies in a mosaic of talent that can together guide it forward.”
Having been pushed to be Opposition Leader by her fellow MPs after the Parliamentary Group had held a no confidence vote in Delia weeks ago, a vote which Delia lost, Comodini Cachia has not yet declared whether she intends to contest the PN leadership.
She said that “I believe that the party needs a group of people to take it forward. I am willing to continue being the catalyst to ensure that that group does take the party forward. That is all I need to say for today.”