The Nationalist Party's Whip, David Agius said tonight that while Franco Debono is still a member of the party, he is not yet a candidate for the next general elections.

Sources close to the PN executive told di-ve.com that although the Whip's words could lead people to believe that Dr Debono still had a chance to run on the party ticket, in truth, nothing had changed and the election ban was still in full force. 

The Nationalist Party's executive group met tonight to discuss MP Franco Debono's ban from contesting the next election.

Nationalist MP Franco Debono left the Nationalist Party's executive group meeting early, in utter silence.

As he left the PN headquarters, he kept his face carefully blank and did not stop to talk to any of the journalists or give any comments.

Dr Debono arrived at the meeting over half an hour late, as did most members of the PN Executive Committee due to the traffic jams still blocking the main arterial roads. Before entering the meeting, he stated that the political parties in Malta were currently above the law and for this reason he had submitted a bill in Parliament that would regulate the finance of political parties.

“Ask them who financed the building behind you,” Dr Debono said to journalists as he walked in, pointing at PN headquarters behind him.

Dr Debono said that the Group of States against Corruption (GRECO) had repeatedly said that  Albania and Malta were the only countries without a law governing party finances.

During the meeting, Dr Debono argued that the PN's executive did not have the right to condemn his vote against the Whip and the party. However, Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi said that the executive committee had upheld the ban on his re-contesting the elections on the PN ticket.

As civil protection personnel pumped out water from the partially flooded basement of the Dar Centrali, none of the other members of the PN executive chose to comment.