David Agius gave nothing away when he was asked by this newsroom whether he was going to re-contest for the role of Nationalist Party Deputy Leader for the upcoming term.

Nominations for the post opened on Saturday and will remain open till 18 June.

Contacted by The Malta Independent and asked whether he was going to re-contest for the post, Agius said that he will give comments on his decision on the matter at a later time.

Any prospective candidates have until 18 June in order to submit their nomination for the post, and will then have to undergo a due diligence process which they have to pass in order to be officially nominated for the post.

The PN has two deputy leaders at the moment: Agius and veteran MP Robert Arrigo, who both took on the roles when Adrian Delia was elected as leader soon after the PN's 2017 electoral defeat.

Robert Arrigo has already said that he would not be contesting for any roles within the party's administration.

The decision to have two deputy leaders was taken in 2014 and reflected the same which the Labour Party had adopted, having a deputy leader responsible for party affairs and another deputy leader responsible for parliamentary affairs.

However, as from this year, the party will revert back to having one deputy leader after statutory amendments in this regard.

The race for who will take up the post is still wide open: Agius has not pronounced himself on whether he will contest, while a number of names within the party - such as new MPs Joe Giglio and Mark Anthony Sammut - have been mooted as possibilities for the post.

PN leader Bernard Grech has also said in the past that he would favour the deputy leader post being taken up by a woman, while it hasn't been excluded either that the post will be taken up by someone who is not an MP - much like the system the PL has employed with Daniel Micallef in the second-in-command role.