PN’s internal woes more pronounced in Gozo and southern district

Gozo and district three are proving to be problematic areas for the Nationalist Party even among its own supporters, a recent survey of card-carrying members shows.

Almost a quarter of PN members in Gozo prefer neither of the four deputy leadership candidates, a week before early voting, with the number ranging between 19% and 27% in district three (Zejtun, Ghaxaq, Marsaskala, Marsaxlokk).

The survey of PN card-carrying members conducted by friends of one of the deputy leadership candidates and seen by MaltaToday, puts David Agius and Robert Arrigo in pole position to win the parliamentary affairs and party affairs posts respectively. The survey polled around 400 card carriers from the PN’s 18,000 fully paid-up members.

Agius, who is the preferred choice of 46% of PN members, leads Edwin Vassallo, who musters 28% of the vote for the post of deputy leader parliamentary affairs. The winner will replace Mario de Marco.

Arrigo enjoys a more handsome lead over his rival Toni Bezzina for the post of deputy leader party affairs to replace Beppe Fenech Adami. The former Sliema mayor is the preferred choice of 66% of party members, while Bezzina just manages 8%.

As the campaigns enter the last two weeks, 16% of party members are still undecided who to choose between Agius and Vassallo for the parliamentary affairs race, with the number growing to 18% in the other contest between Arrigo and Bezzina.

And while in both races there are party members who indicate no preference for any of the four candidates (9% in the parliamentary affairs race and 8% in the party affairs contest), a closer look at the numbers indicates a bigger problem in Gozo and district three, which comprises Marsascala and Żejtun.

In the parliamentary affairs race, 26% of PN members in Gozo have no preference for both Agius and Vassallo. The closest to this are party members in districts three and four, where 19% said they preferred neither of the candidates.

In the other contest between Arrigo and Bezzina, 22% of Gozitan PN members prefer neither, while the number shoots up to 27% in district three. In all other districts the percentages are far below these levels, with the closest being district 4 where 13% of PN members said they preferred none of the contestants.

The PN has some 18,000 fully-paid up members and these are expected to choose the two deputy leaders who will flank leader Adrian Delia. The election will be held on November 18 with early voting happening on November 11.

In September, Delia won the leadership contest with the support of 53% of party members, beating Gozitan Chris Said. In the wake of a bruising contest, Delia’s allies tried to convince Said to run for deputy leader parliamentary affairs. However, the former minister insisted he would only consider if uncontested as had been the case with de Marco in 2013.

Vassallo had indicated his willingness to pull out of the race but Agius refused to play ball.

In the election for the PN executive committee held yesterday, none of the 59 candidates for the 18 seats up for grabs were Gozitan. This was further confirmation of the PN’s internal problems on the sister island.

However, the lukewarm attitude in Gozo and district three by PN members is possibly a reflection of how the electorate at large in these two districts views the PN. In last June’s general election, the PN lost its hold on the Gozo district, where for the first time in decades the Labour Party obtained an absolute majority of votes. In district three, for the second election in a row, the PL elected four MPs as the PN vote languished at 29%.