Updated 7pm

PN leader Adrian Delia has accused his leadership rival Bernard Grech of trying to influence veteran TVM journalist Ruth Amaira ahead of a debate between the pair on Monday.  

Grech has denied the claim and PBS said Amaira had not confirmed her participation. 

Delia claimed in a statement that as a result of this pressure, Amaira had informed the PN’s electoral commission that she would not be chairing the debate.  

The PN leader condemned the fact that journalists were not being allowed to carry out their work without influence.  

However, in a later statement, Grech’s team rubbished the claim as a lie.  

“When we were told of the debate and the journalist who was going to chair it, our team made contact to discuss the format but the journalist told us that she had turned down the electoral commission’s invitation,” Grech said in a statement. 

Grech also denied that he was reluctant to participate in a leadership debate, as claimed by Delia.  

In a separate statement, PBS said that Amaira had refused to chair the debate, despite being asked to do so several times by different people. 

Early voting in the leadership contest is set to start on Friday (today). It will continue on September 26 through to October 3.  

Calls for the election to be postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic have been dismissed. 

A total of 21,499 paid-up members are eligible to vote.