Updated | PN ethics committee report being finalised, administrative committee meeting this evening

The Nationalist Party’s administrative council is meeting this evening to discuss the recommendations put forward by the ethics committee on the Adrian Delia allegations.

MaltaToday is informed that the report is currently being finalised and the administrative council is meeting this evening at around 7.30pm.

The first round of elections to elect the Nationalist Party’s new leader is just three days away and councillors and activists are still in limbo as to what can happen to PN leadership hopeful, Adrian Delia.

On Monday night, the administrative council appointed an ethics committee – led by former minister Louis Galea – to probe the allegations that have rocked Delia’s campaign.

The lawyer has repeatedly denied benefitting from the rent of a Soho property, linked to a prostitution racket and has insisted that he had been a lawyer offering professional services to a client

The committee was given 48 hours to delve into the allegations and come up with recommendations.

The wait has fuelled more uncertainty as to what can happen to the election and, more importantly, to Delia’s bid.

Over a hundred councillors who were scheduled to be abroad this Saturday have already cast their vote – which means that the election process is now well underway.

Sources have argued that it is highly unlikely that the election will be postponed and the question remains whether the administrative council can now force Delia out of the race. In reality, there have been divergent views of how the party should have handled the situation, but many contended that it was unprecedented.

Questions have also arisen as to why the party had failed to conduct proper due diligence of the candidates.

In comments to the Times of Malta, former European Commissioner Joe Borg and head of the commission, insisted that it was not the commission’s job to end a candidacy and that such decision rested with the party.

“Our job is to monitor the electoral process, while matters of a political nature, such as whether a candidate is ideal for the post, are for the party organs to decide,” Borg told the newspaper.