Adrian Delia is not obliged to call a vote of confidence at the General Council but, seeing that a petition has exceeded the 150-signature targed, some form of vote will be called anyway, according to a senior PN source.
Over 150 PN councilors have signed the petition that calls on PN General Council President Kristy Debono to hold a general council in which a secret ballot would take place on whether Delia should "shoulder political responsibility and resign".
Delia has been facing calls to resign since the result of the last round of elections, which saw Labour win with a majority of over 40,000 votes. The PN leader has remained steadfast and refused to resign or call a vote of confidence. He addressed a number of executive committee and parliamentary group meetings, presenting a 10-point programme during his last meeting with MPs.
While the required amount of signatures has been reached, party insiders said this would not necessarily force Delia to call for a vote of confidence, adding that some might be misinterpreting the party statute.
A source said: “He is not obliged to call one (vote of confidence) but if it is true that the General Council is being convened directly through over 150 signatories, then such a vote of some other form of it will be called anyway.”
The source added: “Many persons within the Party have been growing impatient not necessarily because Dr Adrian Delia has not resigned or asked for a vote of confidence but because he is being perceived as not having acted immediately enough to at least address the causes leading to the results of the European Parliament and Local Council elections. Party activists are growing impatient since they would like to some some concrete measures.”
In another development, Mark Anthony Sammut, who resigned from the role of president of the PN’s executive committee last month, endorsed the petition.
In a Facebook post Sammut said adopting a "business as usual" approach or adopting superficial initiatives to tackle a profound problematic situation is never a proper solution.
“After having heard the sincere pleas and feelings of so many who have reached out to me in these weeks, I endorse, with great responsibility, the call coming from across a wide sector of the Party, and I too have signed the request for the Party to convene its General Council and take a vote of confidence in Adrian Delia’s leadership. The disastrous results of the European and Local Council elections makes it imperative to do so.”
Sammut said it was clear from the result that in the past almost two years the Party has burnt many bridges with big chunks of its very own electorate. “We have not only not convinced those who had left, but we have even lost more from among our own core.”
The Nationalist Party needs to start by taking full and honest stock of the current reality. Only then can it "rethink, rebuild and relaunch", he said.
“We could preach unity for a hundred years, but unfortunately it has become obvious that those who burned these bridges can never succeed in rebuilding them.”
“This is not about factions, this is not about Adrian Delia; this is not about any individual, past or present, be he former leader or otherwise.This is about the very existence of the Nationalist Party and of democracy in Malta. Loyalty to our country and to the Party comes before loyalty to any individual,” he said.
“I have respected the vote of the 7,734 party members, and I have worked tirelessly over this year and a half to try to make that choice a success, but we have clearly failed. Now it’s time we respect the message of the 371,000 voters. It’s time we redirect the clear message of our own voters; a clear message sent in the manner of voting chosen by those who voted and in the equally clear message sent by those who chose not to vote. Change is a must. And the time is now,” Sammut said.
Former PN candidate Ivan Bartolo told Times of Malta that he was the first to sign the petition.
Several PN officials have publicly backed the petition, including the President and Secretary General of MZPN – the party’s youth arm – as well as Attard Deputy Mayor Alex Mangion and the president of the PN’s Forum of Professionals, Graham Bencini.