A move to force an extraordinary general council meeting of the Nationalist Party has been accepted by the party’s general council president, Kristy Debono.

In a statement, Ms Debono said that she was referring the request to the party’s executive for it to begin the process to summon a general council, despite alleged irregularities tainting 84 of the 200 signatories behind the move.

The general council meeting was forced by a petition demanding a secret vote on party leader Adrian Delia, which was presented to the party’s leadership on Tuesday afternoon.

Kristy Debono said she was referring the request to the the party's executive. Photo: FacebookKristy Debono said she was referring the request to the the party's executive. Photo: Facebook

Debono questions signatories

According to the PN statute, a petition must be signed by at least 150 members of the party’s general council for it to trigger a general council meeting.

That petition featured 200 signatures, PN executive member and former electoral candidate Ivan Bartolo, who handed in the petition, had told the press.

On Wednesday, Ms Debono revised that figure downward: 28 out of the 200 signatories were invalid, she said, adding that 23 were not among the PN general council’s 1,500 general council members, while another five were invalid because they had refused to renew their party membership when requested to do so.

That would bring the total number of signatories down to 172 – a number still higher than the minimum 150 required according to the party statute.

Ms Debono also raised questions about another 56 of the signatures featuring on the petition: 55 had memberships which were expired, while one more signatory had signed using a name which did not match that on their ID card.

Petition moves forward

Nevertheless, the PN statement said that Ms Debono was moving forward with the petitioners’ request and calling for a general council meeting.

During an eventual general council meeting, PN councillors will be asked to vote on whether they want Adrian Delia to remain as party leader, despite two bruising electoral defeats last May.

Sources within the PN told Times of Malta that councillors who have expired party memberships will have to pay their dues before they are able to cast a vote at the eventual council meeting.

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