Nationalist Party Sectary General Clyde Puli deemed it unnecessary to consult with, or even to have informed, Forza Nazzjonali coalition partner Partit Demokratiku of the party’s decision to dissolve the uneasy partnership between the two parties that was entered into before the general election.

Contacted yesterday, Puli told this newspaper, “Why should PD have been informed about the end of the coalition when they have shown us no loyalty whatsoever.”

Instead, Puli said the party deemed it more appropriate to notify PD in the formal manner through the presentation of a motion, which Puli himself did at Dar Centrali on Friday evening.

The motion, moved by Puli and seconded by all members of the party’s administration, refers to the agreement that had been reached between the PN and PD through which they presented a common list of candidates for the general election. The PN executive then unanimously approved the coalition’s dissolution.

Although the co-creator of the Forza Nazzjonali coalition, former PN leader Simon Busuttil, was not present for Friday’s vote, Puli insisted that the majority of the executive had attended: “A normal number was present and unfortunately Simon Busuttil was not present at the time of the vote.”

Contacted yesterday, Busuttil refrained from commenting on the PN’s move taken under the new leadership of Adrian Delia.

It is known that a number of leading Nationalist politicians had been uneasy with the coalition. Both Chris Said and Francis Zammit Dimech had confirmed to this newsroom that before the June general election, they had both been presented with a fait accompli, and that Busuttil had held no discussions with the party about the prospect of a coalition with PD.

Moreover Puli said that even though the election had been lost, the party maintained the political will to continue working with PD, giving the party’s former leader Marlene Farrugia not just a platform in the general election race but after that as well.

Nevertheless, when the PN leadership campaign began, Farrugia’s scathing comments on then leadership hopeful Adrian Delia showed she had no loyalty to the coalition, Puli explained. In fact, Farrugia had gone as far as saying that she did not recognise Adrian Delia as the new PN leader.

“One day they’re sitting next to us at a press conference, the next day they’re speaking against us, there’s just no loyalty. After all, the Nationalist Party ended up losing two seats to them, which were mostly Nationalist votes, because we had allowed them to share a platform with us in the run-up to the general election,” Puli stated. “We lost valid PN candidates, especially in the Seventh District, who did not garner enough votes because of this coalition.”

The coalition, Puli pointed out, was established in the hope of winning enough votes to secure a parliamentary majority: “The results weren’t what we wished for but we still wanted to cooperate with the PD. However, now it’s time for the PN to pursue its own agenda.”

Puli assured that, this way, everyone can freely say what they want to say and pursue their own aims, clarifying that any future collaboration with PD will be on a case-by case basis.

Delia was never part of the Forza Nazzjonali – Marlene Farrugia

Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia was never part of the Forza Nazzjonali, former PD leader and MP Marlene Farrugia said yesterday in a biting criticism of the motion to dissolve the coalition: “Delia PN is shrinking and haemorrhaging by the hour”.

“Forza Nazzjonali lives on” Farrugia stated, stressing that the Forza Nazzjonali is a mind-set, which is “thriving and growing by the day”.

Dr Farrugia continued to call for unity, claiming that a strong and credible Opposition is needed to preserve democracy in our country, and to eventually form a government to replace Joseph Muscat’s “corrupt regime”.

"Forza Nazzjonali lives on. DeliaPN was never a part of it, but the PN was and is.”

“I am legally PN. Politically PD. Historically Forza Nazzjonali. And I cannot be dissolved. Not by a DeliaPN executive at any rate," she said.

Meanwhile, current PD leader Anthony Buttigieg also posted a Facebook status in reaction to the PN’s public announcement that the coalition has been broken up, stating that, “The PN has admitted to the public something that, in practice, has been the case since the election.”

On the other hand, Buttigieg said that, “Marlene and Godfrey Farrugia have been cold-shouldered in Parliament by the rest of the Opposition despite their efforts to work closely with the PN.

“Partit Demokratiku, recognised as a distinct Democratic Opposition in Parliament by the Speaker, will work on a case-by-case basis in Parliament whenever it is in the genuine interest of the people of Malta and Gozo, and shall continue to prove the desperate need for the Third Party in our country,” the PD said on Friday.