Former Nationalist Party deputy leaders Mario de Marco and Beppe Fenech Adami, as well as MPs Jason Azzopardi and Karol Aquilina have come out in support of former leader Simon Busuttil, after current leader Adrian Delia called on him to resign from the PN parliamentary group following the publication of the Egrant inquiry.
Deputy Speaker Claudette Buttigieg, MPs Therese Commodini Cachia, Marthese Portelli, Karl Gouder and Claudio Grech have also come out in support, while MEP David Casa said: "We work together, win together, fight together, & when all else fails, take the fall together. Division only leads us down an insurmountable slope. Unity in our own diversity is what brought us this far & is what should take us forward. We are & always will be #strongertogether."
Alex Pericini Calscione, Delia competitor in the leadership election, has also issued a status of support.
"I can never be party to the rushed and illogical decision to suspend Simon Busuttil from the PN. Neither can I keep silent merely for the sake of political self-preservation," Grech said.
Busuttil was removed from his post as Spokesperson for Good Governance within Delia’s shadow cabinet. Addressing a press conference, Delia said that in view of the fact that the PN had made the Egrant story an integral part of its election campaign he had asked Busuttil to suspend himself from the parliamentary group so that he (Busuttil) could focus more on the magisterial inquiries he had requested, so that the truth would come out.
“#notinmyname, #strongertogether” all three MPs wrote on their twitter account.
Contacted by The Malta Independent, de Marco said that “it means what it reads” when asked to further explain the post, declining to comment further. Until last week, de Marco was sitting next to Delia in a press conference given by the party.
Yesterday evening, the PN’s administrative council backed Delia, saying in a statement that “nobody is bigger than the party, the country, and the truth.”
Reacting to Delia’s decision to call for his resignation, Busuttil said that “Delia took this decision without first seeing he full report, which has not yet been published. Furthermore, Delia wants to remove from the party whilst at the same time expecting me to continue working on the inquiries against Mizzi and Schembri. This is a great contradiction.”
“On his part, Adrian Delia has sided with Joseph Muscat instead of strengthening the PN in the fight against corruption. Now we have come to an absurd level where the PL is congratulating Adrian Delia,” Busuttil said, referring to an earlier statement by the Labour Party.
“The PN should remain united in its fight against corruption. I appeal to Dr Delia to not allow Joseph Muscat to use him. Neither should he use this situation to try and get rid of me.”