The duo believed to be the most popular potential candidates for the post of leader of the Nationalist Party have agreed that they will not run against each other.

Gozitan MP Alex Borg and former PN leader Adrian Delia were both reported as frontrunners to succeed Bernard Grech in an internal poll held among members, and Times of Malta on Friday reported that the duo, who are known to be good friends, had agreed that they won’t compete against each other.

They both met earlier on Friday to discuss the matter at hand – with both of them even sharing a photo of the meeting on social media – and while they agreed that they wouldn’t compete against each other, they did not agree on who of the two would contest.

Speculation about the PN leadership post has been rife ever since Bernard Grech announced his resignation a week and a half ago – and more so when seemingly everyone’s first choice for the post Roberta Metsola announced that she would be staying in Brussels to continue her mandate as European Parliament President.

29-year-old lawyer Alex Borg had the backing of 27.5% of members in a poll compared to 19.3% who backed Delia.  Lawyer and former MP Franco Debono was the third most popular prospective candidate, with 8.8% backing.

Debono has also pledged to explore a potential leadership bid, telling his Facebook followers that he had been enjoying meeting councillors and party members over the past week and would continue to do so over the weekend.

Nobody has officially launched their leadership bid, but it is recognised that Metsola’s decision not to contest for the post has made the race wide open.