Ivan Bartolo and David Thake, the PN's two newest MPs, both used their first comments to the media as elected MPs to emphasise that they are part of one PN team, and to pledge that they will help the party to win the next election.

Thake and Bartolo were elected to Parliament on Tuesday after a casual election took place on two districts.  The duo were both critics of PN leader Adrian Delia in the past, with Thake frequently making his less than positive views of the party's leader known through social media, and with Bartolo having pushed for a vote of no confidence in Delia's leadership after the PN's drubbing in the MEP elections last May.

However, their first comments to the media after being elected were based on the need for unity, rather than bearing any hallmarks against the current party leader.

Thake said that he is part of the PN team which has the ultimate goal of helping the party regain the faith of the electorate.

"In the end, the decision is in the hands of the people. Our position, as every politician, is to see how we can help this party to win.  It is something which I need to think about, and which everyone else does", he said.

Asked directly whether he has faith in Adrian Delia's leadership of the party, Thake once again pointed to the notion that he is now part of a team.

"It is not a question of individuals - we are a team, and together we have to win or lose the people's faith.  My job is to help the party win it back", he said.

Thake also said that he will work for the good of the country with an emphasis on his district - which encapsulates Bugibba, Qawra, St. Paul's Bay, Naxxar, and Mellieha.  He said that the country is at a crossroads especially on rule of law and good governance, and noted that it will be very difficult for someone to fill the role which Simon Busutill had in Parliament.

Bartolo meanwhile spoke on similar lines to his new colleague, promising that "the party's interests will definitely come first" and that he would work to see the party become strong enough to be elected.

Bartolo was another critic of Delia, especially after the drubbing the party received in the MEP elections, and he himself brought forth a vote of no confidence in the party leader. Delia retained his post with a 67% majority, which led to Bartolo since having been more silent and measured in the public domain.

Pre-empting questions in this regard, Bartolo said that he would continue to work so that the party can move forward from the status quo.  He said that the tools for him to do so are now closer to him, and that moving forward would mean that the PN could gather all the strength it needs to become an alternative government.

Both Thake and Bartolo thanked their predecessors and the electorate in 2017 for the faith they had shown in them.

Thake and Bartolo were elected to Parliament on Tuesday after a casual election on the twelfth and ninth district respectively. They take the seats of former PN leader Simon Busuttil and Marthese Portelli.

Thake's path to Parliament was not easy - unprecedented scenes broke out at the Naxxar counting hall after he and Graziella Galea ended the voting redistribution process on an identical number of votes - 1,877, which was 73 short of the quota.

In the end, the Electoral Commission ruled that since Thake had received more first count votes from Busuttil's stack of votes, he would be the one to get elected.  Galea was hence eliminated, leaving Thake as the last man standing with 3,646 votes to his name.

Bartolo's path was much more straightforward: his vote total passed the quota after the sixth count, finishing some way ahead of his closest rival for the seat Noel Muscat.

PN Deputy Leader David Agius said at the Naxxar Counting Hall that the duo will take oath as MPs on Wednesday.