A former PN local councillor claims that his bid to re-contest the upcoming elections was blocked through the “malicious” manoeuvres by an “internal faction” bent on toppling party leader Bernard Grech.

The claim was made by James Cauchi, who has been a member of the Nationalist Party for 35 years and contested on the party’s ticket in Cospicua for the past 25 years.

Yet despite his long and active role within the party, even as a member of its topmost organ, the Executive Committee, Cauchi’s nomination as candidate for the June 8 local council elections remained in limbo. 

After being approached by the party’s Secretary General Michael Piccinino in January to re-contest the election, Cauchi willingly accepted and sent an email to confirming this on January 16.

He received personal acknowledgement of that email from Piccinino himself. 

Cauchi said that he regularly communicated with the party’s Secretary General on various matters while he was waiting for his nomination to be discussed and greenlit by the Executive Committee.

Faction was pushing for no-confidence vote in Bernard Grech 

In the meantime, Cauchi claimed he was contacted by a “person close to the PN” who asked him to join an internal faction that was “gradually preparing to push forward a new candidate to replace the current leader Bernard Grech.” 

That faction appeared to have garnered “majority support” to such extent that it could successfully manoeuvre a no-confidence vote against Grech, Cauchi claimed, in a judicial protest filed against the PN, its Secretary General and Electoral Commission.

If approved by the Executive Committee, Cauchi would automatically be entitled to vote at the party’s General Council and join that majority preparing to oust Grech. 

That majority believed that the current leader had various shortcomings and “did not deserve to lead the party at the next general election.”

However, Cauchi refused to join that faction. 

He waited for the final official confirmation of his nomination from the Secretary General but it never materialised.

As time went on, Cauchi continued to chase his nomination within the party. 

A “well-known figure” also intervened as a mediator between Cauchi and the party in an attempt to help him get a clear answer. 

But all proved futile. 

He had never faced any disciplinary procedures and no shadow had ever been cast upon his reputation, the disgruntled Cauchi claimed. 

Moreover, he felt that he had betrayed loyal Cospicua voters who had always supported him. 

The term for submitting his nomination lapsed and still he received no approval from the party. 

In fact, he later found out that his nomination had never even reached the Executive Committee. 

All this simply because he refused to join that internal faction, argued Cauchi.

There were persons within the party, including its Secretary General, who were “internally manoeuvring in a subtle manner to pave the path for a prospective candidate or candidates” he said. 

Such “malicious” behaviour was to the detriment of the party and its voters who were deprived of choice.

And that explained why, over successive elections, problems within the PN kept growing rather than being solved, Cauchi concluded.

The judicial protest filed in the First Hall, Civil Court was signed by lawyer Ishmael Psaila.