PN Whip David Agius has been blasted by some for “disobeying” party leader Adrian Delia and pressing on with his deputy leadership bid.

Delia had, in a bid to heal the wounds inflicted by the bitter leadership campaign, offered an olive branch to his main rival, Chris Said, and encouraged him to run for one of the deputy leadership posts. But the Gozo MP reportedly said he would only be interested if he were uncontested. So MPs were told to make way for Said and not contest the deputy leadership election.

It is understood that Agius, who had declared his intention to contest as early as July, threw his name in the hat only after ascertaining that Said had decided not to run for the posts.

For this reason, the people who are attacking Agius are being very unfair.

Secondly, people who support the party that famously fought for democracy should not be chastising anyone who seeks election in a democratic process. And they should not support the idea of an undemocratic process.

The party has structures and systems for such elections to take place, allowing for several individuals to run for the desired posts. No prospective candidate should be asked not to stand for election. That is not how democracy works.

Delia himself was asked to withdraw his candidature, but did not. He cannot then expect to tell others to put their aspirations on hold. While it is understandable that a new leader will want to be surrounded by people he can trust, the electoral process cannot be hijacked.

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Then there is the issue of Edwin Vassallo, who was the first to announce his nomination – he is running for the post of deputy leader for party affairs.

The Mosta MP launched his campaign, complete with logo and podium, but at the same time said he was willing to back out of the race if Said also threw his name in the hat.

Such reasoning is illogical. You are either in or out. You either want to run for the post, believing that you can take the party forward, or you do not. There is no middle road.

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There is then another issue currently plaguing the PN: open criticism of its leader by several party exponents and MPs.

One of these is David Griscti, the chairperson of the PN’s think tank AZAD, which aims to educate and raise awareness about political issues and democracy, and teaches candidates how party politics work.

In his latest rant, Griscti said that the fact that someone did contest the post Chris Said was eyeing was an “evident sign of weakness of the new leader.”

Griscti has been consistent in his criticism of Delia, and his preferred medium is Facebook.

One of his biggest supporters is MP Jason Azzopardi, who never misses to share Griscti’s posts and take a dig at his newly-elected leader.

Perhaps, instead of constantly berating Delia and blaming him for all the woes the party now finds itself in, they should realise that they are doing the party no favours by keeping up this (very) public barrage against their leader.

Yes, in a democratic country they have every right to disagree, but slagging Delia on Facebook is not the way forward. These continued attacks serve only to widen the divide and ensure that the PN remains unelectable.

Delia was elected leader in a democratic process, whether one likes him or not. He is now the captain of the team. So the team members must make a choice: Will they sit on the fence and keep taking potshots at the captain? Will they overthrow him and take their team back? Will they play along to something they do not agree with? Or will they pack up and leave?