Updated at 10.25am with Zammit Dimech statement

Petitioners seeking a vote of confidence in Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia have expressed “shock” at learning their petition has been deemed “invalid” by the party administration.

The party is insisting that the vote will only take place upon the request of Dr Delia, with his choice of wording.

Times of Malta was informed of the administration’s decision on the invalidity of the petition by the head of the party’s electoral commission, Francis Zammit Dimech. But petitioners said no such decision had been communicated to them.

The vote – whether under a motion by the petitioners or by Dr Delia – is due to take place on July 27 during an extraordinary session of the party’s highest organ, the General Council, which is made up of about 1,500 members.

The matter will be on the agenda of a PN executive committee meeting scheduled for Tuesday evening, which will debate conflicting positions on who has the right to draft the question asking for a vote of confidence and who has the right to vote in the council.

It is up to the Executive Committee to decide on that issue... I stand to be guided accordingly- Zammit Dimech

Dr Zammit Dimech on Monday said the petition presented on June 25 had been deemed “invalid” by the party administration. Next week’s ballot, he said, was only being held on the strength of a formal request made by Dr Delia on July 4.

He subsequently pointed out that it was the executive committee, not himself or the electoral commission, which deemed the petition invalid.

"It is up to the Executive Committee to decide on that issue and as I have repeatedly pointed out, I stand to be guided accordingly," he said. 

The PN administration had questioned the petition from the very beginning, saying that 84 of the 200 signatures which had endorsed it could be invalid, but no official decision was ever communicated on the matter.

Dr Zammit Dimech’s remark has left the petitioners fuming. Reacting on their behalf, Mark Anthony Sammut on Monday told Times of Malta this was news to them.

Francis Zammit Dimech said the July 27 vote would happen because Delia had requested it, not because of the petition presented.

“This flies in the face of the long-standing democratic credentials that our party has always stood for. Our petition was valid because it was signed by more than 150 councillors in accordance with the PN statute,” he said.

Mr Sammut said the party administration had never stated that the petition was invalid, even during an executive committee meeting in which it was decided to convene the council on July 27.

“Since our petition is valid, the provisions of the party statute should kick in automatically, namely that a General Council should be convened on the basis of this request to vote on the motion and question submitted in this request, and no one has the right to change the motion presented,” the petitioners said.

Another issue at stake is the voters’ list during the General Council meeting.

Dr Zammit Dimech said the cut-off date for any changes to be made to the list was July 4, when Dr Delia made his formal request, and not June 25, when the petition was presented.

He refuted the petitioners’ claims that hundreds of names had either been added or struck off the list during the eight-day period, saying they numbered tens.

Dr Zammit Dimech acknowledged there had been some changes but said they were perfectly legal and in line with the party statute.

A significant number of these changes were the result of May’s local council elections, with newly elected councillors automatically appointed as General Council members.

Those who lost their local council seat also lost their General Council membership and hence the right to vote, he said.

These changes came into force on July 1, when the official five-year term of local councillors started, Dr Zammit Dimech added.

A number of vacancies within the General Council were also created because some of the newly elected local councillors were already members of the General Council in a different capacity, such as PN sectional committee and branch representatives.

The appointment of new General Council members under various categories had been going on for months and not just after the June 25 petition, Dr Zammit Dimech said.