Deputy leadership vote could still go either way

With minutes ticking to tonight’s Nationalist Party deputy leadership election, party insiders said there was no clear front-runner and the vote could go either way. A total of 888 PN councillors will today be voting to choose between Finance Minister Tonio Fenech and MEP Simon Busuttil to fill the post vacated by Tonio Borg. “It’s too close to call and we expect a second round as councillors seem to be split mid-way,” a senior party official told The Times. The two candidates have been involved in four weeks of intense campaigning, interrupted by Dr Busuttil’s successful lobbying for Dr Borg as EU Commis-sioner, and Mr Fenech’s presentation of the Budget. “Councillors are sending mixed messages to both camps and we would not speculate on the result,” the official said. Both candidates yesterday evening organised their separate end-of-campaign gatherings, appealing to councillors to give them their vote. Although both events, held at Villa Arrigo and The Palms, were well attended, campaigning will continue until the eleventh hour with every vote potentially making the difference. A number of councillors are still believed to be undecided. Both camps yesterday said they were...