Clockwise: Chris Said, Adrian Delia, Alex Perici Calascione and Frank Portelli.Clockwise: Chris Said, Adrian Delia, Alex Perici Calascione and Frank Portelli.

An informal survey of Nationalist MPs by The Sunday Times of Malta found that support for party leadership frontrunners Adrian Delia and Chris Said is evenly split among the few who declared their preference.

No MPs publicly expressed support for the other two candidates, Alex Perici Calascione and Frank Portelli.

This paper managed to contact two-thirds of the PN’s parliamentary group yesterday in a bid to gauge the mood among the MPs, whose influence could help swing the September 2 vote by the 1,500 strong General Council, one way or the other. However, of the 18 MPs contacted, 10 preferred not to give any indication of who they were supporting. The reasons varied, with some MPs claiming to still be undecided and others saying they had a preference but would prefer not to publicly commit to it.

Many of those who declined to state their preferred candidate cited a desire not to split the party and stressed their loyalty to whichever candidate goes on to clinch the leadership. Jason Azzopardi, Edwin Vassallo and David Stellini openly declared their support for Dr Said. Another MP, who preferred not to be named, also said he would be backing the former PN secretary general’s leadership bid.

Dr Said has made his experience in politics his main battle cry for his leadership campaign.

The Gozitan MP has argued that only an experienced PN insider with a vision can take on the Muscat juggernaut.

Dr Delia, an unknown quantity in local politics, can so far count on the public support of one MP, Hermann Schiavone, and that of three other MPs who asked not to be named, according to yesterday’s soundings.

The litigation lawyer has promised a fresh approach based on a new way of doing politics.

If elected PN leader, Dr Delia would have to rely on a sitting MP to give up his seat in order for him to take up the role as Opposition leader.

Sources within the party said a small group of MPs are backing Dr Perici Calascione’s bid, yet none of those contacted expressed their support for him.

Dr Perici Calascione has placed emphasis on the fact that, as PN treasurer, he was part of a team which has managed to turn around the party’s finances since 2013.

Frank Portelli, who surprised many by tossing his hat into the ring 30 minutes before the submissions deadline last July, did not garner any support from the MPs contacted.

The former PN MP has been criticised by the party for his comments about migrants and gay people.

On September 2, the PN’s general council will pick two candidates, who will then proceed to a run-off.

A couple of more weeks of frantic campaigning will be held, prior to the final vote on September 16. Unlike the previous vote, this poll will be open to all those who have been paid-up members of the PN for the past two years.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.