PN leadership election may clash with budget

Nationalist Party members will be voting to elect their leader in the first or second week of October, according to the party’s electoral commission chief.

Peter Fenech said on NET TV that the election will be held over the span of a week and will be held by the second week of October.

Voting will take place in 17 locations, including the PN headquarters in Pieta and the AŻAD academy in Valletta.

Incumbent Adrian Delia and Bernard Grech are the only two candidates in the race and are currently undergoing a financial due diligence process by a team of experts.

The election may clash with the budget, although no date has been set for it yet. Last year, the budget was held on 14 October.

If the budget is held in the second week of October, the Opposition is likely to have Delia give the initial reaction and if he loses the leadership contest, Grech deliver the formal budget replica speech.

Fenech said that around 26,000 members are eligible to vote in the PN leadership election and members have until 14 September to regularise their position.

Three years ago, the number of paid-up members who could vote after regularising their situation was 15,527. 

Eventually, 14,742 voted in what was the first exercise where the leader was chosen by party members. Delia obtained 7,734 votes to Chris Said’s 6,932, clinching the leadership with 52.7% of the vote.

A MaltaToday survey published on Sunday puts Grech in a more favourable position than Delia among the general electorate. However, the poll was conducted before reports of Grech's tax problems emerged in the media.

READ ALSO: PN leadership candidate Bernard Grech has a history of unpaid taxes