A number of ‘dissenting’ Nationalist MPs who have continued to defy their leader are becoming increasingly isolated as Delia strengthens his grip on the party.

The same names are mentioned over and over again when it comes to the PN’s ongoing internal struggles, whether they are taking pot shots at Delia on Facebook or moving motions that put him in a precarious position.

This same group of people made a clear statement on Sunday when they failed to attend the PN’s General Council, an event that is considered to be one of the party’s most important conventions.

The missing MPs included former PN Leader Simon Busuttil, Gozitan MP Chris Said, who unsuccessfully contested the leadership election and lost to Delia, as well as MPs Jason Azzopardi and Karol Aquilina and MEP David Casa.

All of these were part of the opposing camp during the leadership campaign. Simon Busuttil had even gone as far as to state that Delia should give up his leadership bid midway, when allegations by Daphne Caruana Galizia surfaced and caused a storm.

In the end the majority of the party’s councillors and paid up members chose Delia, a leader these MPs still refuse to endorse.

Their problem is that Delia is managing to strengthen his position as leader, and they are as a result, being pushed into a tight corner.

Over the weekend the party elected Kristy Debono, one of Delia’s most prominent right hand persons, as President of the General Council.  

Many of Delia’s favourites also made it on the PN’s Executive Committee – the party’s decision taking arm. And Delia is expected to further strengthen his position of power in the coming weeks, when the elections to appoint two new deputy leaders and a secretary general will be held.

Conscious of these results, Delia proclaimed in a fiery speech on Sunday that he was “here to stay.”

In another apparent act of defiance, some of those MPs who failed to attend the general council went to the sit-in protest that was held in front of the police HQ in Floriana in the afternoon. They bunched up together and made sure to be picked up by the news cameras. The message was clear: ‘we can show our faces here but our leader cannot.’ The strength they have comes from the fact that Delia has lost the moral high ground on issues of that are currently at the centre of a raging debate in the country, but this will eventually subside and these MPs will be nothing but a voice in the desert.

It has been said before that these MPs have a few options before them: Play along, resign or kick Delia out. None of these is easy.

One can understand why these MPs cannot suddenly change their principles and endorse Delia. If, in the bottom of their hearts they feel that Delia was unsuitable to lead the party before the election they cannot be expected to change their stance now. The argument that a democratic election does not cancel out the sins of a person is a valid one.

Moving to oust Delia would probably lead to bloodshed, for Delia’s hardcore following will never allow such a move.

So the remaining option is to resign.

In either case a decision has to be taken. The party cannot keep bleeding votes and, a survey, published on Sunday showing that the disparity between PN and PL now stands at 75,000 only the latest wake up call for the PN.

Despite the horrible numbers, Delia has made it clear he will not go anywhere. And his grip on the party is only getting stronger. These dissenting MPs have a very hard choice to make.