[WATCH] PN executive to discuss leadership election on Thursday

The PN executive committee will be meeting tomorrow to discuss and decide the dates and the process for the internal elections for the party's top posts, party leader Lawrence Gonzi said today.

Following the electoral drubbing suffered on 9 March, the PN leader Lawrence Gonzi announced that he would not be standing for re-election when the party's General Council is convened.

In three months' time, the PN will elect a new leader, a process which Gonzi said he "would not participate in", which means he will stay on as party leader until the party's General Council is convened.

Hours after the electoral defeat, Gonzi had said: "I shoulder the responsibility personally and completely," adding that the PN must undergo a process of "radical renewal" without forgetting its core values.

In the wake of the crushing defeat, secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier also declared that he would not stand for re-election, meaning that the PN's top three posts are up for grabs. Current deputy leader Simon Busuttil will not stand for re-election, however he is expected to contest the election for party leader.

Speaking at the Palace in Valletta following his swearing in as leader of the Opposition, Lawrence Gonzi did not rule out opening the elections to all party members, noting that this would be on the party's executive committee agenda.

He also added that in Opposition, the Nationalist Party will put the national interest ahead of anything else.

The former Prime Minister said that Parliament should be convened at the earliest and underlined the importance of approving the 2013 Budget immediately, and stressed that the Nationalist Opposition is committed to ensuring that this is approved as soon as possible.

Gonzi said that this message as Leader of the Opposition is that "we will be an Opposition which puts the national interest first and foremost."

He also said that the PN Opposition would back the Budget as long as the Labour government does not carry out any changes, other than exempting minimum wage earners from income tax, in the budget presented by the former PN government in December.

"As long as the budget remains unchanged, we will support it," Gonzi pledged.

Gonzi also noted that his position as Leader of the Opposition would be a "temporary" one, auguring that the process for the election of a new party leader "does not take too long, but does not take too short either."

Asked whether he would be in favour of the Select Committee resuming talks on issues such as party financing, Gonzi said "personally, yes" but went on to add that since the Nationalist MP line-up is still not finalised pending by-elections, it would be prudent to wait before committing one's self.