Delia calls for PN to lift debate restrictions in leadership race

Updated 4pm with IĠM statement

Adrian Delia has asked the party’s electoral commission to revise its controversial rules for the PN leadership election, saying he and his competitor Alex Borg should be allowed to debate and journalists should be free to ask what they want.

Sources close to the party said the commission is reconsidering amending a couple of rules. The PN told Times of Malta on Saturday it had no objection to any question the newsroom wants to ask the candidates in what appears to be a U-turn. 

Delia wrote to the commission on Saturday morning.

"If we want to be the party in government that safeguards the foundations of democracy in Malta and Gozo, as we always have, then we must start from within our own house," Delia wrote in a letter seen by Times of Malta.

The Nationalist Party’s electoral commission issued rules on Thursday barring Borg and Delia from debating or even referring to one another. 

The rules also banned journalists from asking Delia or Borg about each other.

On Saturday afternoon, however, the PN informed Times of Malta that both candidates were available for an interview any day next week and that the party had no issue with journalists asking whichever question they deemed fit.

A few hours earlier in his letter to the electoral commission, Delia said that he could understand the reasons behind the conditions put forward by the party.

“I understand that the restrictions you imposed on debates and questions from journalists were made to preserve unity within the party and to avoid unnecessary clashes.

“I agree with the objective, but not with the method," Delia said.

Delia said that his campaign will primarily focus on ideas, strategy, and vision, and that the personalities of the contestants are a secondary concern. 

“I am certain that Alex and I speak respectfully about each other, even though our ideals and vision differ in some matters," he told the commission. 

"I ask the commission to consider revising the regulations that were introduced, particularly the provisions that restrict journalists' freedom to ask whatever they want," he said.

Delia also thanked the commission for their work in his letter.

Both the Nationalist and Labour parties have held debates in their last leadership elections, but in the rules set out this week, commission chair Mario Callus barred the possibility of even Delia and Borg being interviewed at the same time. 

He also said that Delia and Borg may not appear on media platforms other than the party's once the nominations are formally submitted and an official electoral campaign kicks off.

Approved media organisations must provide equal time to each candidate and abide by the rules approved by the Nationalist Party. 

“The interviews should serve the purpose of informing the public about the prospective candidate being interviewed and their vision for the future of the Nationalist Party, and no reference should be made, either by the prospective candidate being interviewed or by the interviewer, to the other candidate." 

"If an independent media house does not observe these regulations, it will be disqualified from being given further opportunities in this campaign," Callus said.

Reconsider the rules - IĠM

The Institute of Journalists (IĠM) on Saturday called on the PN to reconsider the debating rules for the leadership contest saying it can never condone rules that impinge on journalists’ role and influence the type of questions that can be asked.

“This is not  a contest that interests only PN members but the selection interests the general public as the eventual leader would be the Leader of the Opposition and a prospective prime minister,” the IĠM said.

The institute added that journalists are duty-bound to ask the candidates all the necessary questions so that the public can get to know Adrian Delia and Alex Borg better.

“This is necessary for a democratic society so that people can make an informed choice,” the IĠM said.

The IĠM strongly objected to all the conditions imposed by the PN regulating access to the candidates.

It called on the PN to reconsider these rules and to create a framework that would encourage debate and a free exchange of ideas by making it easier for journalists to do their job.