PN leadership: Nominations open next month, election on September 16

Nominations for the PN leadership will be open between 17 and 19 July, with an election set for 16 September in time for the party’s annual Independence Day celebrations, the party has announced.

The PN’s general council, composed of around 1,500 delegates, will convene before then - 28 June - to discuss and approve the rules for the leadership and subsequent deputy leadership elections.

The electoral process will be presided over by an electoral commission spearheaded by former European Commissioner Joe Borg. The commission will also include Matthew Mangion and Boris Xerri from the PN’s electoral office (Elcom), outgoing international secretary Trevor Degiorgio, PN womens’ section president Marion Pace Asciak, former assistant secretary general Angelito Sciberras, and MediaLink director Isabel Vella.

The timeframes were decided upon by the PN’s executive committee, whose 77 members convened this evening, following the resignation of Simon Busuttil in the wake of the general election.

For the first time in the PN’s history, the leader and deputy leaders will be elected by the party’s paid-up members. The PN’s general council, composed of some 1,500 delegates, will convene on the first weekend of September to narrow down the list of nominees to two candidates, who will then square off against each other two weeks later.

To be eligible to vote, a person must have been a paid-up member for at least two years and must not be a member of another political party.

The process to elect two new deputy leaders – to replace Beppe Fenech Adami and Mario de Marco – as well as a new administration will commence once the new PN leader has been elected.