Former PN MP Franco Debono has announced that he will not be running for the post of Nationalist Party leader.
“I do not think this is the right moment to run for any leadership posts within the party,” Debono said in a video posted on Facebook
“I will now be looking at how I can convey the many messages of support I’ve received to the people who need to hear them”.
He wished the two candidates who have said that they are running – incumbent Adrian Delia and lawyer Bernard Grech – the best of luck.
In comments to The Malta Independent last Monday, Debono had said that he was “listening attentively” to the people’s messages.
However on Friday Debono posted a video on Facebook where he said that he will not be contesting for the party’s leadership post, although he said that he would look to see how he can convey the messages of support he had received.
Debono also published a 44-page dossier of statistics from a survey which he commissioned.
The survey, amongst other things, asked people for their thoughts on how Debono compares against Adrian Delia and Therese Comodini Cachia in a would-be leadership race, on Debono’s actions from when he was still a PN MP, and on whether he should hold a party post besides that of PN leader.
Given a choice between Delia, Debono, and Comodini Cachia – 32.2% of the people who voted for PN at least once in the past 3 general elections gave Delia the thumbs up. 27.2% opted for Debono, 24.4% opted for Comodini Cachia, while 16.3% said that they do not want any of the three.
When all respondents were considered, irrespective of who they voted for in previous elections, 28.9% favoured Debono, 28% favoured Delia, and only 16.7% favoured Comodini Cachia. 26.5% however said that they preferred neither of the three.
The survey took a sample of 500 people between 3 and 6 August and has a 4.4% confidence interval.
Debono served as a PN MP between 2008 and 2013, but after a series of clashes with high-ranking members in the party, including then-party leader and Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, was barred from contesting the 2013 general election.