PN leadership hopeful Chris Said hit out at his fellow contestant Adrian Delia, who has promised to publish an “audit” of his financial affairs today.

Replying to questions by The Times of Malta, Dr Said quipped that the last-minute publication of a financial audit reminded him of Konrad Mizzi, who did the same thing when the Pana committee visited Malta back in February.

He argued that all candidates should have been transparent about their financial affairs from day one.

Dr Delia has faced numerous allegations about his financial dealings and debts.

READ: Delia pledges to publish asset and liability statement today

Addressing a press conference, Dr Said argued that it made no sense to publish the audit the day before the leadership election.

Doing so gave PN members no time to go over this audit, he said.

Dr Said was also critical of the lack of vetting of the leadership candidates done by the party.

He said the only vetting done by the party was carried out by the ethics committee, days before the first round of voting.

READ: 'I'm the victim of fake news,' Konrad Mizzi tells Pana Committee

WATCH: Delia and Said face off in leadership debate

The committee only had a restricted amount of time to carry out its work, and raised questions about Dr Delia’s financial affairs, Dr Said pointed out.

Dr Said reminded that he would be able to be sworn in as Opposition leader on Monday seeing that he was already an MP.

He said all the prospective leadership candidates had an obligation to show how they would make it into parliament.

WATCH: Defiant Delia says he won't heed PN calls to consider his position

Dr Said emphasised that he did not want the PN to face yet another problem by not being able to swear in an Opposition leader.

To date, Dr Delia has yet to say which PN MP would be giving up his seat for him.

Turning to the summer leadership campaign, Dr Said insisted he could have easily based his campaign on feeding on PN supporter’s anger at the party.

“This would have made things more exciting, and I would have had more people clapping for me. But all this would have led to was heated heads. I chose another way, it may look less exciting, but it was the more serious choice”, the PN MP said.

He said that in order for radical change to be introduced within the party, matters had to be tackled maturely.

Dr Said asserted that former Labour prime minister Alfred Sant had promised a new way in 1996, a way which had almost cost Malta its EU membership.

He said 18 months later, people again turned to Eddie Fenech Adami to put the country back on the right track.

Dr Said promised to introduce radical changes from top to bottom to the party.

He insisted these changes would not do away with the successful policies introduced since Eddie Fenech Adami onwards.

Dr Said argued that it was vital the PN did not turn into a photocopy of Labour. Doing so would mean that people have no choice at the polls, he said.

Questioned about his approach to civil liberties, Dr Said said the PN’s values were what made it unique.

He said the PL was no longer a socialist party, and did not care about the country’s future.

Under his leadership, the PN MP said people would be put at the centre of politics, with an emphasis on human dignity.

He said sticking to the PN’s values did not mean the party was not progressive.