Francis Zammit Dimech exploring bid for PN secretary-general

The Nationalist Party’s old guard seems be moving against secretary-general Clyde Puli, who they consider to be the major cause for a rift with the new leadership under Adrian Delia, MaltaToday has learned.

Sources confirmed that the former minister and MP, and former MEP, Francis Zammit Dimech, has been approached by a number of members of the party’s executive and parliamentary group and encouraged to contest the secretary-general’s post.

When contacted, Zammit Dimech would not comment but did confirm he had been approached by a number of party members about running for secretary-general. “I can confirm that I am seriously considering the possibility of contesting the position of secretary general,” he told MaltaToday.

Sources said Zammit Dimech was actively lobbying MPs and members of the executive, with many seeming to favour Zammit Dimech’s bid, albeit with some concerns because of the politician’s ties to previous administrations.

The 65-year old was elected to parliament on the PN ticket from 1987 to 2017 and last served foreign affairs minister under Lawrence Gonzi and in other ministerial roles, before serving in the European Parliament from 2017 to May this year.

Sources told MaltaToday that a number of MPs and members of the party executive had approached Adrian Delia during the summer, outlining a plan on how to replace prominent figures in the party’s administration who are considered to be the cause for most of the discontent within the party ranks.

“But Delia does not seem inclined to want to clean house, expressing doubts as to how he would be able to fire certain people,” one source said. “At this point, Delia should understand that a change of key people around him would actually make him more effective as a leader.”

Zammit Dimech’s decision to contest Puli’s position does not seem to have been well received by the party administration.

MaltaToday is informed that in a meeting with Zammit Dimech in the past few days, Delia personally discussed various options with the former MP. But Zammit Dimech is reported to have insisted he will continue to lobby among party members to determine possible support for his bid.

Sources said that Zammit Dimech made it clear in his meeting with Delia that if he were to become secretary-general, he would not contest the next general election as a candidate and, furthermore, that he would only serve as secretary-general until a few months after the next election, whatever the outcome of the election.

His position seems to be strengthened by the fact that no other possible contender has yet stepped forward, and also by the fact that PN grandee Louis Galea, entrusted with the PN’s reforms following defeat in the MEP elections in May, is already pushing for an amendment to the party statute that would see serving MPs no longer able to hold positions on the party’s executive.

Clyde Puli, who is also a PN MP, would fall under this proposal and would have to choose between his parliamentary seat and his post as secretary-general.

Also affected would be Kristy Debono, an MP who is president of the party’s General Council.

Sources said that Debono has expressed support for the proposal, as have many other MPs and members of the party’s executive, who saw the resignation of Debono’s husband, chief political coordinator Jean Pierre Debono, from his post last week as the first step in unifying the PN once again. Zammit Dimech’s loyalty to the leadership and the party as a whole is being considered an advantage to the PN’s various factions that could have a unifying effect.

Significantly, sources pointed out that his bid was being actively pushed by people who have divergent views from the Delia faction in the party.

Zammit Dimech is not known to have favoured one faction over another in the so-called party camps and is considered by many within the PN to be above politicking. Whether he could bring Delia and his detractors together is another matter altogether.