The haemorrhaging of PN paid-up members (tesserati) has ‘practically stopped’, Nationalist Party Secretary General Francis Zammit Dimech told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

After PN’s leadership election came to a close, and Bernard Grech was elected as the party’s new leader, a number of people who worked within the party handed in their resignation, and some tesserati gave in their membership cards. Some of those were also local councillors. These people supported Adrian Delia and felt that they had to hand in their resignation after the new PN Leader, Bernard Grech, was elected.

Some of these people include Deborah Mifsud, a PN Councillor in Birkirkara, Andre Grech who resigned from SMEPN group and automatically lost his place in the executive committee, popular presenter Louise Tedesco who resigned from all positions occupied in the PN, including that of a local councillor, and two other councillors: Doriana Portelli in Birżebbuga and Charmaine Aquilina in Marsa. A number of tesserati also decided to return their membership. Since then, the PN has been urging such people to reconsider their decision and remain part of the party.

The Malta Independent on Sunday contacted the PN Secretary General Francis Zammit Dimech to get an update about the situation.

Asked whether the PN has managed to bring back some tesserati who handed in their resignation or managed to stop any who wanted to cancel their membership, Zammit Dimech said that the party indeed, had. “Yes, there are some who are withdrawing their cancellation or even resignations from committees and other structures, but it is still too early to go into numbers,” he said. “There are some beginning to reconsider.”

Asked if there have been any more resignations since the first batch was announced, he said ‘not too significant’ in terms of committee members, but he did say that there were a few tesserati who have returned their membership. “We again appeal to them to reconsider their decision.”

Zammit Dimech said that the people who have opted to leave the party are being encouraged to stay on and remain “part of one Nationalist Party family.”

Zammit Dimech would not give any statistics in terms of numbers.

Party sources, however, said that the number of new tesserati registered in the first week of Bernard Grech’s leadership was over 550, which is higher than the number of tesserati who handed their membership back in.