Updated 10.30am

One of the four contestants for the leadership of the Nationalist Party, Frank Portelli, said he regrets his decision to put his name forward for the post.

Through a Facebook post, he lamented the hurt being caused to his family by "unfair attacks" on him. 

Although he did not say anything specific in the post, he had earlier put up a photo of crocodiles waiting for a parachutist to land in a pond, with a not-so-thinly-veiled reference to blogger Daphne Caruana Galizia - known by her initials DCG -  saying that the reptiles were lying in wait for the leadership contestants.

He later uploaded a video accusing Ms Caruana Galizia of "destroying families", adding that he could not understand how the PN never heeded the warnings against her in a 2013 defeat report.

Dr Portelli, a controversial figure often known for his right-wing views, did not at the time say that he would be withdrawing from the race, with his post drawing dozens of comments from supporters urging him not to quit.

He later this morning posted a comment on a post by Robert Musumeci, where he said that he would not pull out of the race as there were too many people depending on him, adding that the PN councillors "had spoken".

"Either we stay as we are or we choose a new road," he wrote.