Updated | PN contenders vote, 412 ballots cast by 2pm

This morning the doors at the PN headquarters in Pietà were wide open and maybe for the first time in months, the mood was cheery and the persons gathered there were all smiles.

The PN councillors and officials were in Pietà for the first round of the leadership contest being held between 10am and 9pm today. The result is expected to be announced at around 10:30pm.

As of 1:45pm. 412 councillors had cast their vote, with 56 of them being cast in Gozo.

As outgoing leader Lawrence Gonzi and the four contestants; Ray Bugeja, Mario de Marco, Francis Zammit Dimech and Simon Busuttil made their way into the Stamperija, they were greeted by a small crowd of councillors. 

Just after 11am, the four candidates accompanied by Gonzi and other party officials walked down to the lower level at the Pietà headquarters where the 901 councillors will be casting their vote.

However, outsider Ray Bugeja had to step aside and look on as the party did not grant him the right to vote since he is not a PN councillor.

He than joined the other three competitors for the PN top post and posed for the media present. A jolly mood reigned at the headquarters, just weeks after the 9 March humiliating electoral defeat, with the candidates and officials sharing a few jokes just after casting their ballot.

Former leader Eddie Fenech Adami cast his vote later in the afternoon.

The PN will be voting for a new leader after former Prime Minister and current PN leader Lawrence Gonzi announced he would not be seeking reelection to the post.

Gonzi has also hinted he would be giving up his seat in parliament.

The councillors will be choosing among four contenders: entrepreneur Ray Bugeja, former MEP Simon Busuttil, former tourism minister Mario de Marco and veteran Francis Zammit Dimech.

READ MORE: [ANALYSIS] If the PN wants back in the driver's seat

But for whoever is elected, it won't be an easy ride: a massive electoral defeat and a party which is in dire financial, the new administration must hit the ground running and bring the party back on its feet within a year, when the MEPs elections take place.

Next year MEPs elections will in fact mark the first political challenge for the Nationalist Party.

A MaltaToday survey of 500 respondents indicates that while Simon Busuttil enjoys a clear majority among current PN voters, Mario de Marco is better placed to reach out to both Labour voters and voters who deserted the PN in the last election. The survey shows that the other two contenders for the post, namely former Minister Francis Zammit Dimech and entrepreneur Raymond Bugeja, do not enjoy a wide following.

The former Minister for Tourism Mario de Marco is the preferred choice of the 500 respondents for the post of PN leader. He enjoys a clear 15-point lead over present PN Deputy Leader Simon Busuttil.

But among Nationalist voters in the March general election, Busuttil enjoys a strong 9-point lead over de Marco. Busuttil also enjoys a slight, 2-point lead over de Marco among PN voters in the 2008 general election.

De Marco's overall 15-point lead over Busuttil is explained by the latter's unpopularity among Labour voters and de Marco's greater appeal among switchers and voters who refused to divulge how they voted in the last general election.

Significantly, de Marco is more appealing to the electorally strategic category of switchers, who voted PN in 2008 but switched to Labour or AD in 2013.

In this category, 57% prefer de Marco, and only 27% prefer Busuttil.