PN’s ‘disorganised’ party lists open to abuse, councillors claim

Councillors urge PN executive to meet urgently to set date for extraordinary general council

Ivan Bartolo has spearheaded the initiative to depose Adrian Delia
Ivan Bartolo has spearheaded the initiative to depose Adrian Delia

Nationalist Party councillors behind a move to oust Adrian Delia have denied that their petition to the general council president contained invalid signatures.

PN councillors Ivan Bartolo, Emma Portelli Bonnici, Mark Anthony Sammut, Emvin Bartolo and Martin Musumeci said the 23 people had their membership of the general council terminated without their knowledge.

The group presented a petition signed by 200 councillors on Tuesday asking for an extraordinary general council to vote on a motion calling for Delia’s resignation.

The petition was accepted by general council president Kristy Debono yesterday and put to the PN executive, which will decide on the date and agenda.

In her statement, Debono said 28 signatures were invalid because the people were not members of the general council, while another 55 did not have their membership of the party up to date.

READ ALSO: Nationalist Party to convene general council despite ‘invalid’ signatures

Debono said she accepted the petition just the same but warned their membership would have to be up to date if they are to vote in the general council.

However, in their reaction on Thursday, the people behind the petition said members had until the end of the year to pay their membership.

Bartolo said a number of those who were identified as not having their membership up to date informed them that they did pay the fee.

“This confirms that the data and party lists are being held in a disorganised state that makes it prone to abuse, something that has not been corrected despite all that has been said in the past weeks,” the statement read.

Party lists ended up at the centre of controversy a couple of weeks ago when two people on the executive committee did not have a right to vote in the co-option vote to find a replacement for David Stellini.

“We are disappointed that a legitimate call made according to the party statute to hold a general council, ended up being used by the party’s highest officials to try and discredit the party grassroots,” Bartolo said.

The councillors said they expected the executive to meet urgently and establish a date when the general council could be held to discuss the confidence motion and hold a secret vote on the matter.

READ ALSO: Ivan Bartolo does not rule out future PN leadership bid