Updated 12.30am  Wednesday

The Executive Committee of the Nationalist Party has voted to appoint former minister and MEP Francis Zammit Dimech as interim party general secretary, party leader Adrian Delia said.

He will succeed Clyde Puli who is stepping down.

The decision was taken at the end of a stormy meeting which ended just after midnight at party headquarters.

Dr Zammit Dimech's appointment was approved with 56 votes in favour, six against and 11 abstentions.

Dr Zammit Dimech, a 65-year-old lawyer, was an MP between 1987 and 2017 and an MEP between 2017 till 2019. He was a minister for 16 years in the Fenech Adami and Gonzi governments with responsibilities that included communications, infrastructure, tourism, culture, the environment and foreign affairs.

A good discussion - Delia

Dr Delia described Tuesday's meeting as 'a good discussion' on the party's next steps with regard to appointments to vacant posts in its leadership. There was agreement that Dr Zammit Dimech would serve as interim general secretary until reforms were in place since the party could not work without a general secretary.  Other appointments would be made once the reforms were concluded and the various roles were defined. 

In a tweet, he congratulated Dr Zammit Dimech and said his unwavering loyalty towards the party through the years would help inspire unity.

Dr Delia said that his position as party leader was not discussed. 

Asked about a Facebook post by MP Jason Azzopardi describing 17 MPs who want his removal as 'heroes', Dr Delia said that it was not heroes which the PN needed, but people who would work hard for the party. 

Asked if he had considered moving aside in view of reported investigations about his financial dealings, Dr Delia said the authorities never spoke to him about any investigation.

Tuesday's executive committee meeting started at 6.30pm and ended at about 12.30am.  

Topping the agenda of the meeting were timeframes for the election of party officials following a series of resignations last week.

Those present argued over whether the elections should be held immediately within the party structures, or follow reforms in the party.

The meeting was held against the background of open rebellion by a number of MPs against Adrian Delia's leadership.

The meeting appeared to be stormy occasionally, with raised voiced heard by reporters outside party headquarters.

Before the meeting started, Dr Azzopardi was subjected to a cacophony of insults as he entered the headquarters.

Dr Azzopardi entering PN headquarters on Tuesday.

The former minister is viewed as one of the leaders of a group of MPs who are calling on party leader Adrian Delia to resign.  Last week he publicly rebuked Dr Delia for telling the media that he would stay on as party leader after having, a few minutes earlier, told a meeting of the parliamentary group that he would consider their proposals for his exit. 

Early on Tuesday Dr Azzopardi uploaded pictures of 17 'blue heroes' - the Nationalist MPs who, he said, want Dr Delia to resign. 

Party members gathered at the PN headquarters' reception area hurled insults at the MP as he walked past them.  PN security intervened to calm people down before the situation got out of hand. 

Dr Azzopardi's reaction to the incident at PN headquarters.

Dr Delia has said he has no intention of quitting and that party rebels should "toe the line or leave". 

The party's executive committee has no authority to remove the PN leader, president Alex Perici Calascione has pointed out. Though a vote of no confidence would be of “huge symbolic significance”, it would have no statutory impact, he said.

The meeting of the executive committee - which is composed of the party leadership, officials, MPs, MEPs, representatives of the various branches and a pool of 18 representatives among the party members - was held on the specific request of reform chief Louis Galea.

Despite losing key allies following the resignation of secretary general Clyde Puli, general council president Kristy Debono and deputy leader for party affairs Robert Arrigo, Dr Delia on Sunday vowed to forge ahead, while warning there was no place in the party for those who were not willing to work with him.

Proceedings underway during the PN executive committee meeting.

In a highly-charged speech at the party's Mellieħa club last Sunday, the PN leader for the first time referred to the “17”– the number of members within the parliamentary group who asked him to consider his position in their meeting last Wednesday. The dissenting MPs have indicated they are going nowhere.

Summer confidence vote

Though the PN statute does not provide for a clear mechanism to oust a party leader, last July Dr Delia had accepted to put his leadership to the test before the general council.

Dr Delia had called the confidence vote after facing internal dissent following the party’s electoral disaster in May’s European and council elections.

A more plausible option at this stage is to go for a “war of attrition” by ensuring that the new officials would not be from the Delia camp- PN sources

He won the vote, with 68 per cent of the general council's roughly 1,500 members giving him their support.

War of attrition?

Those opposed to Dr Delia as leader could opt to have another go at a confidence vote, given that his support has declined since the summer, sources said.

However, fears that a head-on approach might cause further collateral damage which could dent chances of reuniting the party behind a different leader, could trigger a different approach, they added.

A more plausible option at this stage is to go for a “war of attrition” by ensuring that the new officials would not be from the Delia camp, sources said.

Five key posts

In a letter to the PN leader, which he published to the media last Thursday, Dr Galea called for the election of a new leadership team while expressing his frustration that the party was dragging its feet to implement the statutory changes.

Though he was initially perceived to be referring to the PN leader himself, on Saturday Dr Galea clarified he was referring to the five party officials which form part the administration.

These are the general secretary, the general council president, the president of the executive committee, the president of the administrative council, the treasurer and the post of international secretary.

Outgoing deputy leader for party affairs Robert Arrigo had been acting treasurer following the resignation of Antoine Zammit last September.