[WATCH] Gonzi reconfirmed PN leader

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi was re-confirmed as PN leader after gaining the two-thirds majority needed to secure his re-election. Out of the 899 PN councillors, 882 votes were submitted and 851 voted for Lawrence Gonzi. 22 councillors voted against and nine votes were declared null.

The favourable vote consolidates Gonzi's position within the party but does not solve his problem in parliament. The result will certainly strengthen Gonzi's hold on the party but does not change anything in regards to parliament where government has lost its working majority, after Franco Debono abstained in the Oppositions no-confidence vote held in January.

This means that Lawrence Gonzi gained the vote of 94.6% of all party councillors. The result was greeted by loud cheers from the party faithful present at the party offices. The PN leader is expected to address the party supporters as soon as the result is officially announced by the General Council's president Paula Mifsud Bonnici.

The 882 votes cast out of the 887 votes collected means that 99.4% of collected votes were cast. Out of the 899 councillors the party has, the figure amounts to 98.1%.

The press is confined to a room on the first floor of the party headquarters and cannot access the area where votes are being counted. The rule applies to all journalists and camerapersons except for the Nationalist Party media and the national broadcaster, PBS.

Nationalist Party councillors today voted in the leadership election, in which Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi, the only contestant, is widely expected to be reconfirmed as party leader. Results are expected to be announced later this evening.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi cast his vote just after 1pm while former PN leader and prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami voted at around 11:30am.

Rebel MP Franco Debono cast his vote for the PN leadership election at around 6:30pm. On his way out from the PN headquarters Debono ignored the presence of journalists and refused to answer questions by the press. He walked out of the headquarters unaccompanied and headed straight to his car.

Meanwhile, earlier today, MaltaToday revealed that PN backbenchers Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, Jesmond Mugliett and EU commissioner John Dalli have not collected their voting documents. According to sources close to the PN Headquarters, the two parliamentarians and former minister did not collect their votes, even though they were eligible to vote.

Out of the 900 eligible voters, 12 councillors did not collect their voting document. Yesterday, PN councillors were being strongly urged by the party's higher echelons to collect their voting document and vote for Lawrence Gonzi.