Updated 8.35pm

Challenger Bernard Grech has taken a commanding lead in the Nationalist Party leadership race against incumbent Adrian Delia, party sources told Times of Malta

Sources indicated that Grech had claimed around 68 per cent of the vote. Vote counting is still ongoing after polls closed this afternoon, with a result expected this evening. 

Grech wrote on Facebook shortly after 8pm: "Today we took the first step towards uniting and renewing this party. Thank you to everyone who made this result possible. I would also like to thank my colleague Adrian Delia, who I am certain will continue to play his part for the good of the party ... The work truly begins now."

Meanwhile, Delia wrote: "I have always believed in the will of the people. Our party is alive and strong ... From tomorrow I will work harder than ever before for the party I cherish and the country I love."

In a comment to MaltaToday, Adrian Delia confirmed that he was conceding.

“I have no regrets," he said. "I would do it all over again. I will continue working harder and fighting harder than I have done in the last three years. I am ready to work with Bernard and anyone else.”

The party's electoral commission said 85 per cent its 21,499 paid-up members eligible to vote in the leadership election had cast their ballots by the end of voting. 

This means that around 3,200 members did not vote in the leadership election.

The turnout figures mean more PN members have voted in this leadership election than did in the 2017 one which Delia won, and which was the first in the party's history to be open to all paid-up members. On that occasion, 14,000 had voted. 

Both Delia and Grech cast their votes on Saturday morning. 

Photo: Partit Nazzjonalista.

When will a winner be announced? 

Voting booths opened on Friday and Saturday last week, and then on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday, voting is open between 8am and 4pm in Malta and until 2pm in Gozo, after which all ballot boxes will be taken to PN headquarters in Pietà for counting.

The counting will only start when all ballot boxes arrive. After reconciliation and sorting, the ballot papers will be placed in the two contenders’ pigeonholes and counted. The winner is likely to be announced after 10pm.

What are the candidates promising?

Delia and Grech have promised to unite the party in a campaign which formally lasted three weeks, following their seal of approval received from the due diligence committee.

Adrian Delia takes a selfie with a group of men while campaigning. Photo: Facebook/Adrian Delia

Delia has promised unity through loyalty, branding those who tried to oust him as leader as disloyal to both him and the party.

Grech has promised not only unity but also success and renewal, with a different way of getting things done.

The election was triggered after Delia lost a confidence vote in the PN general council in August, following two previous confidence votes lost in the parliamentary group and executive council.

Grech, a lawyer and political outsider, then emerged as the only other contender and a two-horse race for the leadership began.

Tax woes mar men's campaigns

The campaign offered little news but Grech inadvertently stole the limelight when it emerged that he had settled a €30,000 tax bill in overdue amounts and had failed to declare a €32,000 income from hosting students, although he shifted the blame for this onto the school.

Bernard Grech speaks to a socially distanced crowd while out on the campaign trail. Photo: Facebook/Bernard Grech

As part of the due diligence process, Delia and Grech were both asked to submit a series of documents including tax returns, bank statements for the last three years and a declaration of assets in the form of a questionnaire.

They were also requested to present documentation on any pending or past court cases they might have been involved in, as well as a full list of business interests.

Delia is himself no stranger to financial woes.

In 2018, the tax authorities agreed on an €81,000 settlement with the PN leader for unpaid taxes, while Times of Malta reported recently how he had filed his 2018 income tax returns a year late.

According to the new party statute, whoever is chosen to lead the PN will have to be confirmed in the post following the next general election, due by 2022.