Gozitan MP Chris Said said he will “definitely not” be the interim leader to replace Adrian Delia.

Said was the MP who pushed for a vote of confidence on Adrian Delia during a meeting of the PN parliamentary group on Tuesday. Delia lost the vote 19 to 11.

He said any decisions taken will be communicated in due course.

Asked if Delia’s position had become untenable, Said said decisions will be taken “at the opportune time.”

He said he is not interested in taking up the role of interim leader. Asked if anyone else was interested, Said said, “we are discussing and there are various options.”

He would not say who his favourite candidate is.

David Thake said he would not divulge anything about meetings that are taking place but the vote taken yesterday was “clear.”

He insisted that Malta needs “clean” politics, and this applies to both sides of the House.

He would not say how he voted in the secret ballot. “What I can say is that the country needs an Opposition that is not compromised in any way.”

He said a clear political message was given in yesterday’s meeting and Adrian Delia “should consider the fact that he lost a vote of confidence.”

Asked if Delia’s position had become untenable, Thake said that, “if he has lost the confidence of the parliamentary group, the conclusion is logical.”

He said the person who should replace Delia should be someone who enjoys the confidence of the majority of MPs.

PN Deputy Leader and Delia backer David Agius, however, said there is no vacancy for the role of Nationalist Party Leader.

He insisted that this was “not a matter of confidence or not.”

“I do have confidence in the leader of the opposition but we have to understand what the situation is and we have to move forward.” He confirmed that he was among the 11 MPs who backed Delia in the confidence vote.

Agius said Delia was elected by the tesserati and he respects their decision. “If someone starts a process [to remove Delia from the role of Opposition Leader] we will act accordingly, he said.  

Asked if Delia’s position was tenable after losing the backing of the majority of MPs, Agus said Delia had expressed his position cleaerly after the vote. Things are done according to the party statute, he said. “We do things democratically and through discussion.”

Agius said the vote was a message passed on by one of several party structures.

Other MPs, including PN Whip Robert Cutajar, former Secretary General Clyde Puli, and Stephen Spiteri, did not give comments as they made their way into the Parliament building.