Nationalist Party activists, unimpressed with candidates vying for the leadership, do not rule out resorting to a protest vote to put pressure on Simon Busuttil to remain, Times of Malta has learnt.

Sources close to the party said the idea of a protest vote gained momentum the moment a number of potential candidates like MP Claudio Grech, MEP Roberta Metsola and entrepreneur Ivan Bartolo ruled themselves out of the race.

When the three-day nomination period closed on Wednesday, there were four candidates – MP Chris Said, lawyer Adrian Delia, outgoing treasurer Alex Perici Calascione and former MP Frank Portelli.

READ: Four men to contest PN leadership

The winner will be decided by ballot in a general convention set for September 16, when over 20,000 party members will be eligible to vote.

While we have nothing personal against them, we feel none of them have the credentials to bring the PN back in business and pose a serious threat to Labour

Though it is still early days in the leadership campaign, general council members and activists who spoke with the Times of Malta expressed their disappointment with the list of candidates.

“While we have nothing personal against them, we feel none of them have the credentials to bring the PN back in business and pose a serious threat to Labour,” they argued.

Consequently, they are seriously considering invalidating the ballot sheet by writing “Simon Busuttil” on it as a sign of protest.

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“A high rate of invalid votes would fuel questions on the legitimacy of the contest itself in the sense that it would be tantamount to a no-confidence vote in all four candidates,” they said.

“In such a scenario, the most plausible way forward would be for Dr Busuttil to remain at the helm,” the sources added.

They commented that the PN’s failure to make any inroads in the June 3 election was partly due to the fact that Dr Busuttil had to dedicate most of his time to “set the house in order” following the 2013 debacle, which left the Nationalist Party on the brink of bankruptcy.

Calls for the outgoing leader to revoke his resignation were quelled by Dr Busuttil himself.

Addressing activists at Sannat, Gozo, just days after the election, he insisted he would shoulder responsibility for the result in line with his own accountability benchmarks.

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