Former Foreign Minister Francis Zammit Dimech has confirmed he will be bidding for the top Nationalist Party post in an interview with The Sunday Times today.
The 58-year-old PN veteran said he was taking the plunge out of a sense of duty, after being approached by various party councillors at grassroots level.
“They are telling me we shouldn’t put aside all the experience I represent,” said Dr Zammit Dimech, who contested the general elections for the first time in 1981. He was elected to Parliament in 1987 and in all subsequent general elections, assuming different ministerial portfolios since.
Dr Zammit Dimech said he was banking on his vast experience, his team-playing skills and his ability to keep up with the ever-changing political and sociological trends to drum up support.
However, he admitted it would be an uphill challenge to secure the job, and pledged total allegiance to whoever is elected to lead the party.
Nominations for the PN leadership contenders will open on Tuesday and close on Friday, with the leadership election taking place on May 4.
With two days to go before nominations open, there is only one other candidate who has openly expressed his intention – Raymond Bugeja, a twice-divorced wealthy businessman who has never been active in the party structures except as a lifelong member.
Mario de Marco and Simon Busuttil, both cited as potential frontrunners in a leadership race, yesterday kept their cards close to their chests.
Dr Busuttil said he had no comment to make at this stage. Dr de Marco also declined to comment, but emphasised the need for everyone to do their bit to help the party. MPs Beppe Fenech Adami could not be contacted for comment.
Meanwhile, former minister Tonio Fenech yesterday ruled himself out of the race.
He said he had seriously considered taking on the challenge, after obtaining the largest number of first count votes behind by Lawrence Gonzi and Dr Busuttil and following encouragement from several individuals both inside and outside the PN who asked him to consider.
“I always felt duty-bound to offer my service in the best interest of the party. However, despite my strong showing electorally, I cannot say that my reputation has not been unjustly tarnished by Labour’s unfounded and false accusation during the electoral campaign.”
He said he hoped the leadership contest would not be held so soon after the election, thus allowing him the time to clear his name in court in the wake of accusations made by Evarist Bartolo that he received a €5,000 gift from a businessman.
“This I feel makes it very difficult for me to contest the leadership position before clearing my name. This will not diminish my commitment to contribute fully to the cause of supporting the rebuilding of the Nationalist Party in the future.”
He said the PN has some very serious challenges to face. Pointing out that the party needs to close a gap of over 35,000 votes by appealing once more to the middle ground, Mr Fenech pledged to give his total support to the new leader.
Party sources said yesterday that a number of candidates were testing the waters among councillors before deciding whether to throw their hat into the ring. Those interested in the top job or the deputy leader’s post were busy engaged in meetings with councillors to measure the level of support they enjoy.
The election for party leader will be held among the party’s 900 councillors during an extraordinary general council. A candidate will have to win the support of two-thirds of the council members to be declared elected party leader at the first round.
Should more than two candidates be nominated the last one will be eliminated and another round of voting will be held, a process that can theoretically be repeated several times, though the party has set May 10 as the deadline to elect a new leader.