PN leader Simon Busuttil this afternoon met the party’s eight candidates for the next European Parliament election.

The candidates - David Casa, Roberta Metsola, Helga Ellul, Stefano Mallia, Theresa Comodini Cachia, Jonathan Shaw, Kevin Cutajar and Kevin Plumpton - were approved by the party’s executive council a few days ago after they were screened by a purposely set up commission, headed by former EU Commissioner Joe Borg.

Dr Busuttil said that although the eight candidates formed the PN’s team, he did not exclude the possibility of adding a few more names at a later stage.

The team, he said, presented a good mix of age, background, competences, experiences and qualities.

He said that the idea of having the candidates approved so early was to enable them to embark on the campaign process early and give them time to get their message across and meet more people.

The PN leader did not want to comment as to whether the decision at executive level was unanimous but denied there was any division among the members of the executive.

He denied that the south was not being adequately represented saying Mr Casa had contested the general election on the fifth district and Dr Comodini Cachia and Mr Plumpton were from the south.

He said that the people who were not chosen to be part of the team were not losers and could contribute to the party in other ways.

Dr Busuttil warned the contestants that what they were about to enter for was a life changing experience.