The Nationalist Party leadership election is likely to be held in early October amid indications that the due diligence process, examining incumbent Adrian Delia and his challenger Bernard Grech, has still some way to run.
This means the possibility of closing a turbulent chapter in the party’s history before its September 21 Independence Day celebrations – which this year will be scaled down due to COVID-19 – are all but over.
PN sources said the commission vetting the two candidates, which started its job a fortnight ago, could take its full six weeks allocated by the statute.
“However, even if this process does not take its full course, it would be logistically next to impossible to organise the contest involving some 20,000 paid-up members before September 21,” the source said.
The head of the electoral commission, Peter Fenech, has announced that the election will take an entire week as voting will be spread over six days.
Polling will be held between a Wednesday and a Saturday to avoid crowds as a precautionary health measure, while the preceding Wednesday and Friday will be dedicated to early voting. The commission is planning to have a polling station set up at each of the 13 electoral districts.
Sources said that even though the commission was doing a lot of spadework such as updating the list of eligible voters and allowing those with arrears in membership payments to regularise their position, the logistical planning cannot be finalised until the date of the election is set.
It will be logistically next to impossible to organise the contest involving some 20,000 members before September 21
According to the PN statute, the election has to be held at least a fortnight after the due diligence process is completed.
This week both Delia and Grech were 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.
Compliance specialist Antonio Ghirlando heads this commission, while notary Clyde La Rosa and accountant and auditor Mario P. Galea are members.
The final report will be published for the scrutiny of the tesserati (paid-up members) and referred to the Administrative Council and the Electoral Commission.
The report will be accompanied by a declaration on whether the two leadership hopefuls have satisfied the minimum criteria to be eligible to contest.
The party statute lays down that anybody aspiring to be a candidate or hold a position within the party structures must satisfy the due diligence criteria, be competent, honest, a person of integrity and only motivated to run for the post in order to serve the people in the interest of the common good.