Card-carrying Nationalists may get the chance to elect their future party leader if a proposed change to the statute is approved.
A commission tasked to revise the statute, headed by veteran MP Francis Zammit Dimech, has suggested the creation of a convention for party members that will elect the leader, deputy leaders and help the party draft its policies.
The convention will widen the voter base in leadership contests to all card-carrying members rather than limit it to the 900 or so councillors.
It will also serve as a platform for non-members and representatives of civil society to share their views with the PN faithful.
The change sees the party going back to its pre-1970s roots when, according to Dr Zammit Dimech, the party leader was elected by “the few hundred” members.
Labour had made a similar change following the election of Joseph Muscat as leader in 2009. The first Labour convention was held in September last year to draft the principles on which the electoral manifesto was built.
The statute revision commission was set up by Simon Busuttil soon after he became PN leader in May and changes will have to be approved by councillors in the January general council.
Dr Busuttil said the changes wanted to open “new doors and windows” for greater participation even by non-party members by creating spaces for them to contribute.
He said one of the problems that led to the March election defeat was the fact that the party had been cut off from the people and the statute changes wanted to address this by opening up the structures.
Part of this drive was to give members a bigger role in the election of the leader and policy drafting through the creation of a convention, he added.
Dr Busuttil acknowledged that the PL had already done this but noted the system was used in other countries such as Italy and in a limited way by the UK Conservatives. “The onus was on us to try this experiment,” he said, adding the changes still had to be approved by party councillors.
The onus was on us to try this experiment
The PN executive was yesterday given a thorough briefing of the proposed changes by Dr Zammit Dimech, but only the highlights were circulated to the media.
A proposal will see councillors choose from a separate list of women candidates when electing executive members.
The proposal ensures that the 18 members of the executive chosen by party councillors will be nine men and nine women elected from two separate lists. This will do away with the current quota system for women.
“This is a radical proposal that will eliminate recriminations caused by the quota system whereby elected men had to give up their seat if not enough women were elected to fill the quota,” Dr Zammit Dimech said.
The commission also proposed new structures to open up the party to different walks of life including an equal opportunities movement, a forum for professionals, a business forum, a college of candidates, a regional committee for Gozo and a college of former MPs.
It also suggested the creation of policy forums with the participation of civil society.
ksansone@timesofmalta.com