The time has come for the Nationalist Party to make a decision and move forward.

An extraordinary general council has been convened for Saturday to discuss and decide on the future of party leader Adrian Delia.

Councillors will be asked a simple question – do they want to keep Delia until at least the next election, or is it time for him to be replaced?

Delia’s two predecessors, Lawrence Gonzi and Simon Busuttil, both lost heavily in the EP elections  of 2009 and 2014, but none of them faced the wrath of a section of the party, and kept on leading the PN until the subsequent election, which they went on to lose heavily too. It was only then that they resigned.

In Delia’s case, a faction within the party which has never accepted his leadership and whose dose of internal and public criticism increased after the May debacle, has pushed for a vote to be taken on whether he should continue in his task, just 22 months into his tenure as leader. This faction includes MPs who have never seen eye to eye with Delia and have openly criticised him, including on the social media.

It must be recalled that Delia was not elected as party leader by the councillors, but by the party members in what was the first convention. The change in the way the PN leader is elected had been introduced by Busuttil, who opened up the vote for his successor to all party paid-up members, rather than limit it to just the party councillors.

It is hard to imagine that the chapter will be closed and that the PN will turn a corner on Saturday. It is very unlikely that the battleground will transition into unity overnight.

Delia’s supporters are insisting that, even if the councillors were to choose to kick the leader out on Saturday, it is the convention made up of the party members that has the right to oust a leader it elected. On the other hand, if Delia were to be confirmed as leader, it is unimaginable that his detractors will accept defeat and change their mind about him.

The two factions are poles apart and this latest manoeuvre – the idea to put Delia’s leadership to the vote – has only served to create even more division in an already split party. The way exponents of the two factions are attacking each other on the social media does not give anyone any hope that the wounds will be healed in the short term.

Ahead of Saturday’s vote, there are some questions that need to be made.

If Delia loses the councillors’ support – Will he still be comfortable leading the party? Will he resign? Will he resign on his own or take others down with him? Will he seek the support of the party members via a convention, and prolong this state of uncertainty?

If Delia obtains the councillors’ support – Will his detractors come to accept his leadership? Or will they form their own party? If they decide to remain, will they continue hindering the party? If they continue to hinder, will Delia live up to his word and take “hard decisions”, as he told this media house in an interview? What are these hard decisions?

Whichever way it goes, the Nationalist Party must pull its socks up quickly. The country can no longer afford to have an ineffective and inefficient Opposition.