The Nationalist Party elected its new executive council with old faces grabbing the highest number of votes, and the new face of 32-year-old Marthese Portelli just ranking ninth out of the 13 vacant seats despite the party’s unofficial push to elect her as secretary general.
The Gozitan lawyer who was elected as PN councillor in Xaghra last March is in fact being touted in the party’s inner circles as the Gonzi choice in the upcoming secretary general’s election as Joe Saliba will be making way after a decade at the helm. But on Friday, Portelli got only 342 votes.
Attempts to contact her yesterday proved futile.
Also up for grabs will be the post of
PN assistant secretary-general as the incumbent, Angelito Sciberras, will also be not contesting for the post this time.
Out of 709 valid votes, it was assistant information secretary Jean-Pierre Debono, who had a front row during the election campaign including the voice-overs of the PN’s electoral spots on Net TV, who had the strongest showing during this election, obtaining 496 preferences.
Henri Darmanin, who heads the PN’s electoral office, ELCOM, was only 18 votes short with 478 preferences from the party’s councillors, placing second.
PN Hamrun local councillor Paula Mifsud Bonnici, the daughter of former Nationalist parliamentary secretary Antoine Mifsud Bonnici, was third with 464 votes, while the ubiquitous Peter Darmanin, who has been serving as Party Treasurer since time immemorial, came fourth, polling 453 votes.
Valletta mayor Paul Borg Olivier came fifth with 417 votes, while NET TV television presenter Pierre Portelli, one of the front men of the GonziPN electoral campaign, who is being touted as one of Joe Saliba’s possible successors, obtained the sixth place with 390 votes.
Cospicua PN local councillor James Cauchi, who is employed as an official at the Office of the Prime Minister, placed seventh with 352 votes, while Pieta’ PN mayor Malcolm Mifsud, who is also the president of the party’s College of Local Councillors, came in eighth, garnering 342 votes.
Young Balzan lawyer Trevor DeGiorgio, placed tenth with 339 votes after Marthese Portelli.
Siggiewi PN councillor Karol Aquilina, another of the GonziPN team, placed only 11th with 311 votes.
Old-time Qala PN councillor Euchar Mizzi, who was awarded the Midalja ghall-Qadi tar-Repubblika during the Republic Day honours two years ago, placed 12th with 283 votes, while St Julian’s deputy mayor Karl Gouder, came in at number 13 with 262 votes.
However, in view of the positive discrimination clause in the PN statute, which establishes that four of the councillors elected on the party’s executive committee should be women, Mizzi and Gouder were eliminated.
It was only through this discrimination clause that another two of the GonziPN girls, PN Santa Lucija councillor Caroline Galea, who polled 282 votes, placing only 15th, and new PN candidate on the Fifth Electoral District Janice Chetcuti, who polled 218 votes, placing only 16th – were elected instead of Mizzi and Gouder.

czahra@mediatoday.com.mt