Updated 12.30pm Wednesday 

The Executive Committee of the Nationalist Party has unanimously decided that it should be party leader Adrian Delia who should put the question upon which party councillors will vote at an extraordinary meeting on July 27, the party said in a single-sentence statement early on Wednesday.

"The Executive Committee recognised the validity of the two petitions presented in the past few days and unanimously agrees that the question before the general council should be the one moved by the party leader," the party said.

The statement was issued at midnight after a meeting of the Executive which lasted over five hours. Shouting and banging could be heard from outside party headquarters on several occasions.

The PN statement did not disclose the nature and wording of the question but as he emerged from the headquarters, Dr Delia said councillors would be asked - ''Do you want Adrian Delia to continue to lead the party until the next general election?'  

Dr Delia said the 'marathon meeting had a positive outcome.

"In the PN, dialogue and debate is encouraged but in the end everyone puts the interests of the party first. I  thank the petitioners who made an important step for the good of the party."

He said the party needed a process of reform and a vote on the leadership to begin regaining people's confidence and presenting itself as a strong alternative government.

Ivan Bartolo, who had presented the petition calling for a vote of no confidence, stood besides Dr Delia and did not comment.

Informed sources said the discussion focussed on what party councillors would be asked to vote upon during the party's general council meeting.

The executive has been presented with two petitions, by rival groups, one calling for a vote of no confidence in Dr Delia, asking him to resign in the wake of the party's results in the May elections, and another expressing confidence in him, calling for action against those who harm the party and also calling for party reform.

But the sources said Dr Delia insisted that once it was he who had actually convened the general council meeting, he should be the one to set the question for the councillors to vote upon.

Sources said that new Executive Committee president Alex Perici Calascione argued that the councillors should be allowed to vote on all the petitions presented to them.

Times of Malta reported earlier on Tuesday that the petitioners seeking a vote of no confidence in Dr Delia have expressed “shock” at learning their petition has been deemed “invalid” by the party administration.

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 the petitioners said no such decision had been communicated to them.

There were also arguments over the past week over claims that substantial changes had been made in the list of councillors eligible to vote. 

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.

Petitioners welcome the outcome

The five members who submitted one of the petitions welcomed the outcome of Tuesday’s Executive Committee, saying that they agreed with there being only one question asked on July 27 – that proposed by Dr Delia himself – “for the good of the party”.

Ivan Bartolo, Emma Portelli Bonnici, Mark Anthony Sammut, Emvin Bartolo and Martin Musumeci said in a statement on Wednesday that in the end, irrespective of the question, the vote would reflect whether there was confidence in Dr Delia as the leader of the party.

They also confirmed that they were to given a copy of the eligible councillors and that anyone who had been removed from that list without their knowledge would be able to contest this, that there would be early voting, and that the time for voting would be long enough to make it convenient.