PN's Mark Anthony Sammut shoots down talk of leadership ambitions

One of the Nationalist Party's newest MPs has dismissed a rumour that he will contest the party leadership, after blogger Simon Mercieca claimed that he is eyeing the role.
'Let me make it clear that I have no interest in contesting for [PN] leader, as some claimed," Mark Anthony Sammut wrote on Facebook.
"My only interest is to serve in my role as a new MP, be a voice for the two districts that elected me, and do my job as President of the PN General Council."

The 36-year-old electrical engineer won big last weekend, managing to get elected in a district in the south and another in the north, which is very unusual for a PN candidate.
He secured 1,904 first count votes in the 4th district and 921 in the 10th district. In the 4th district, he outshined incumbents Jason Azzopardi, Carm Mifsud Bonnici and Ivan Bartolo.
While Sammut performed excellently, his party had a dismal election and lost by a record margin of more than 39,000 votes. 
According to the PN statute, the party leader must submit his or her resignation following an electoral defeat, triggering the prospect of a leadership election. 
Party leader Bernard Grech has said that he would like to stay on as leader. 
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