“If we stay attacking each other on social media or in the papers, we are not going to move forward”, PN leader Adrian Delia said in a radio interview on Sunday, as he noted that people were seeing that there is a division within the party.

When asked for his reaction to the MEP and local council elections, Delia reiterated that the result was clear and that people had given a robust message that the PN has not changed enough to present itself as an alternative to the government. 

He noted that people are seeing that there is at least a part of the PN that is still living in the times of old and thinking that they have a god given right to govern.  However, Delia noted, there is a strong movement to recognise that the party hurt people and is humble enough to say as much and a strong movement that has to show that the party has changed and will continue to change.

He said that people have recognised that there is a division in the party and that he himself had recognised that there was an “establishment” which was controlling things – which it was still doing so today, up to a point.

He noted that he has extended a hand of friendship to all those within the party who did not agree with his election to leader countless times and would continue to do so, but noted that the party has no time to keep tolerating those who “want to pull in the opposite direction.”

“Today we are at a point where people need to choose; do we want to stay as we are and stay rooted in the ideas of those who think they know everything, or do we want to change and give a strong message that we are ready to accept everyone.” 

“If we start attacking each other on social media and in the papers, we are not going to move forward”, Delia said.

Moving onto the PN’s decision to co-opt Jean Pierre Debono to replace the parliamentary seat vacated by David Stellini, Delia noted that both Debono and Kevin Cutajar – who was vying for the seat – had made valid arguments.  Cutajar had argued that a seat in Gozo should be taken up by a Gozitan candidate, while Debono had argued that the PN had no representative within the seventh district.  Debono himself had given up his seat in the seventh district so that Adrian Delia could be co-opted into parliament while Beppe Fenech Adami’s seat was taken up by PD’s Godfrey Farrugia in a casual election.

He said that he had made no representations in favour of one candidate over another, and noted that practically everybody had attended the meeting – even those who had not appeared for the past two years.  He promised that he would continue to hear the voice of Gozitans who, he said, still had three very valid MPs representing them and added that he will be going to Gozo himself in the coming days to ensure that their voice are heard.

On another matter, Delia confirmed that Roberta Metsola will be the PN’s head of delegation at the European Parliament after she and David Casa were elected as MEPs.  He said that he looked forward to working together to see the direction in which the party and the EPP should move forward.

Speaking briefly a scathing report on Malta issued by the Council of Europe, Delia said that Labour’s tactic of saying that an electoral victory absolves the government of all wrongdoing does not work abroad.  He said that abroad they look at subjects such as good governance, rule of law, freedom of speech, leadership and justice and based their judgements on that rather than on electoral results.  “Do the people want us to just stop saying what is wrong? I do not think so”, Delia said before adding that “with the greatest honest and humility we have the obligation to say what is wrong and to say that in this context, the government is damaging the country.”