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PRIME Minister Tony Abbott and Victorian leader Matthew Guy will have representatives among the 200 delegates who have the responsibility of deciding the Liberal Party’s candidate in Indi at the next federal election.
Delegates from local branches and other parts of the state will gather in Benalla tomorrow to select the candidate with the best chance of reclaiming the seat the Liberals lost to independent Cathy McGowan at the 2013 election.
They are faced with a choice between Ms McGowan’s predecessor Sophie Mirabella, Wodonga businessman Kevin Ekendahl and Melbourne-based anaesthetist Andrew Walpole.
About 70 per cent of delegates at the pre-selection convention are Indi-based and had to be party members for at least two years to avoid a branch-stacking controversy.
The remainder are state council delegates including the representatives of Mr Abbott, who had earmarked Mrs Mirabella for a cabinet position before her 2013 election defeat, and Mr Guy.
State president Michael Kroger, who is reportedly backing Mr Ekendahl to be the Indi candidate, will also be among the voting delegates.
Excluded from voting are electorate staff members, immediate family and the candidates themselves.
Delegates will vote by secret ballot with an exhaustive method used to decide the winner given multiple candidates are vying for pre-selection.
Party chiefs will be hoping the successful candidate will attain a majority vote in the first round to convey to the electorate a sense of unity behind the victor.
As part of the convention, candidates will hold “round table” discussions with delegates, answer questions from the floor and deliver a six-minute speech before the crucial vote is taken.