First PN euro election candidates to be chosen by July

The first batch of the Nationalist Party's 2014 European Parliament election candidates will be known by the end of July, former PN minister and European Commissioner Joe Borg said,

Addressing the press this morning, Borg and PN leader Simon Busuttil explained the terms of reference of the Nationalist Party commission which will review the process for the selection of election candidates.

The commission was set up earlier this month and had its first meeting on Thursday.

Busuttil pointed out that the commission was entrusted with three main tasks, establishing the criteria for the selection of candidates, advising the party on deselecting candidates and proposing candidates for European, local and general elections.

The commission's first task will be that of "identifying, evaluating and proposing candidates" for the May 2014 MEP elections, Busuttil said.

The PN leader added that the party was aiming at having roughly the same number of candidates as it had in previous elections, In the last two round s of the European elections had 10 candidates and although this will be used as a guideline for the commission, Busuttil pointed out that next year's election will see six members elected and this could influence the party's decision.

He added that incumbents David Casa and Roberta Mestola would automatically be included in the list of candidates vetted by the commission alongside all persons who have either shown interest in contesting or have been approached by the party to contest.

"The number of persons who have either shown interest in contesting or have been approached by far exceeds the number of candidates we will be presenting," Busuttil said.

Joe Borg explained that nobody has been selected yet, however the commission was in the process of setting its selection criteria and would be meeting prospective candidates in coming weeks. He added that the commission will be limiting its decision to a select choice of candidates given the limited number of candidates the party will be fielding in May 2014. 

The commission headed by Borg will not have the last word on the selection of candidates, however it would be making a recommendation to the party's administrative council and executive council who will make the final decision.

The other commission members are Isabel Vella, former health minister Louis Deguara, Maria Cassar, Noel Buttigieg Scicluna, Saviour Sciberras and PN administrative council president Karon Aquilina.