Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/879686
maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 27 SEPTEMBER 2017 5 News CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 But the commission said the "ruse" could have facilitated the falsification of signatures and that this was an illicit electoral practice. Since then, Debono has de- nied a claim by an eyewitness who came forward to Malta- Today saying he had presented some 100-odd proxies in one day alone, to collect voting documents on behalf of other voters. "It is an outright lie, I deny it categorically… I don't remem- ber the exact amount, but I believe I collected under 30 votes in two weeks," Debono said. Debono, who has now re- signed as an MP in a bid to trigger a casual election so that the new PN leader Adri- an Delia can be co-opted into parliament, also denied hav- ing been appointed to Delia's side as a private secretary. "Not true," was Debono's re- ply when asked whether this was his new designation in- side the party. The verification exercise into the proxy documents is set to determine how many of these voting documents were indeed passed on to their al- leged holders. The incident was provoked by a complaint to the PN elec- toral commission by a voter who turned up at PN head- quarters to collect his vote, but was told that Debono had already collected the vote on his behalf. Debono has denied claims that he could have falsified any such signatures on prox- ies, saying he was unable to verify these signatures when sectional committee mem- bers passed on the proxies, ostensibly to hasten the col- lection process due to the long queues. Parliamentary group meeting This evening Adrian Delia will convene his first parlia- mentary group meeting at 6:30pm, when he will address MPs who in the main sup- ported Chris Said for the lead- ership. Delia unsuccessfully tried securing the resignation of MPs elected to the House by casual election. His consult- ant Pierre Portelli, the direc- tor of content at The Malta Independent, was present for meetings with some of these MPs. Instead, it was left for Jean Pierre Debono to resign his seat, just two days after Malta- Today published the contents of the electoral commission's confidential report into the proxy investigation. While MPs will now for- mally meet Delia at the party HQ, a request for a meeting of the PN's administrative coun- cil, whose president is MP Karol Aquilina – who publicly backed Chris Said – has not yet been convened, to discuss the complaint made against Jean Pierre Debono. Delia is also busy seeing that by the end of the year, he can see elections held for the posts of deputy party leaders for parliamentary and party affairs, to replace Mario de Marco and Beppe Fenech Ad- ami, respectively. Delia has not made any pub- lic overtures to Chris Said, who won 48% of the vote and lost the leadership election by 800 votes, to be integrated in- to his leadership team as one of his deputy leaders. Yesterday, Delia was accom- panied by MP Clyde Puli and party whip David Agius at his first official meeting with Prime Minister Joseph Mus- cat at the Labour Party head- quarters. Party sources point to Clyde Puli as a potential running partner for Delia, but already interest in the deputy leader- ship is also growing among other MPs. The popular Slie- ma MP Robert Arrigo has de- clared he will run for deputy leader for party affairs. Jean Pierre Debono says he collected 'under 30 votes in two weeks' Muscat hoping not to repeat 'bitter experience' he had with Simon Busuttil Debono was one of Adrian Delia's staunchest supporters throughout the leadership campaign CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 After it was incorrectly reported that Delia had turned down the in- vitation, Delia, speaking during his Independence Day speech had claimed he was not afraid to meet Muscat and would do so at the first opportunity. Their first meeting was de- scribed as a "very good" one in which they discussed a range of subjects, according to the PN leader. "Not only was it cordial, but it was also effective," said Delia upon emerging at the end of the 90 minute long meeting. Speaking to journalists Delia said he had raised three points in particular with the Prime Minister, including his concerns with the uncertainty surround- ing Air Malta and the knock-on effect on the rest of the tourism sector, his proposal for the gov- ernment to give its MPs a free vote when parliament discusses issues of a "moral" nature, as well as the way forward on low- ering the voting age to 16. "We both agree on the issue of vote 16, and I brought it up be- cause in a year and a half we will have local and European Parlia- ment elections," said Delia, add- ing that it was in the interest of the country for the two parties to find a "modus operandi" on implementing the changes that will allow 16-year-olds to vote. Asked about the Prime Min- ister's reaction to his call for a free vote on moral issues, Delia said he would rather let Muscat discuss his own reactions but added that he understood that the Prime Minister's position was that of obtaining consensus within his parliamentary group. Delia reiterated that the Oppo- sition would be deciding wheth- er to join the government's waste management committee after discussing the matter dur- ing the first meeting of the PN parliamentary group, due to take place today. On whether there were any is- sues on which the Prime Min- ister requested the Opposition's support once parliament reo- pens, Delia simply said that they had discussed the items they wanted to discuss. The PN leader was asked why he was not accompanied by par- ty deputy leaders Mario de Mar- co and Beppe Fenech Adami, and replied that he was the one invited to the meeting, and he had "asked the MPs" to join him, insisting there was "no political reason" behind the decision. On his part, the Prime Minis- ter expressed his hope that the change in the PN's leadership could usher in a more construc- tive relationship between the two parties. He alluded to his less than am- icable relationship with former PN leader Simon Busuttil, say- ing that "[Delia's] meeting was an exercise in confidence build- ing, in the hopes that the frankly bitter experience with the for- mer leader will not repeat itself". He said the government would be held accountable for the de- cisions it took regarding waste management when asked about statements by Delia, that the government had only invited the Opposition to sit on a waste management committee so that it could justify decisions it had already taken. Turning to Delia's request for the government to grant a free vote on ethical and moral issues Muscat said that no free vote would be given on issues which were in the party's manifesto. Finally, on hunting Muscat said that he was aware that a mi- nority of hunters were breaking the law, but insisted that many hunters were abiding by it. He said that ultimately it would be up to the Ornis Committee to give recommendations to the government. Joseph Muscat and Adrian Delia met for about an hour and a half