Chris Said to contest PN secretary-general post

Former justice minister Chris Said has confirmed that he will be contesting the role of role of secretary-general rather than that of leader of the Nationalist Party.

The confirmation follows in the wake of a MaltaToday report earlier this week that first revealed Said's aspirations might follow a different route than going straight for the PN top position at this juncture.

"I am still considering all options," the Nationalist MP had told MaltaToday. He however confirmed he was "more considering" the post of secretary-general over that of leader when quizzed.

The Sunday Times has reported that Said has confirmed that he will be contesting for the role of secretary-general.

He said that he intends to reorganise the party and begin with a reaching out process that will reconsolidate the party internally first and its links with the rest of the electorate second.

Regarding the PN's current financial troubles, Said insisted that the party must work diligently to address the problems, and pointed out that it still retains considerable assets and, like incumbent secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier that same day, dismissed the current crisis as a simple cash flow problem.

"We need to look at the entire structure and reorganise it from scratch to arrange things in a sustainable way," he said. He also stressed the need to bring on board more volunteers.

Nominations for the PN leadership post opened on Tuesday and closed on Friday at noon.

Deputy leader Simon Busuttil and former ministers Mario de Marco and Francis Zammit Dimech have submitted their nomination, along with outsider entrepreneur Ray Bugeja.