Adrian Delia has lost a second confidence vote, this time during a meeting of the PN’s executive committee, but insisted he will not be stepping down. 

47 members voted against him, 36 voted in favour and one abstained.

The vote was taken after the executive approved a motion moved by former MP Michael Asciak.

"This was a declaratory, internal vote," Delia said, adding that the vote has “no consequence."

Delia again pointed to the recently-amended statute, which says that the party leader is the Opposition Leader, and insisted that the choice made by the tesserati will be respected by all the party’s structures.

He said that, according to the statute, a vote of confidence before the general council cannot take place for another year. “Those who moved this motion today after their failed attempt with the President knew this.”

He said he felt sorry for genuine Nationalists and the tesserati. “There are those within the party who have not yet learnt that if we do not respect the will of the majority, then we can never make any progress.”

Last week, 19 members of the PN’s parliamentary group also voted for Delia to resign.

Asked if he will take action againt the MPs who voted against him last week, Delia said he now needs to “take decisions,” but confirmed that disciplinary action was not discussed in today’s meeting.

The motion was officially filed late on Tuesday, despite Delia himself protesting against the presentation of the motion, sources have told The Malta Independent.

It was seconded by the MZPN’s Emma Portelli Bonnici.

The motion was filed after Delia spent almost half an hour defending himself from criticism thrown at him by members of the Executive during the meeting.

It was deemed admissible by PN Executive President Alex Perici Calascione despite an attempt by Delia for it not to be heard today, sources told this newsroom.

The sources continued that Delia argued that the PN statute does not allow for motions to put submitted without prior notice, however it was counter-argued by PN MP Karol Aquilina that a motion without prior notice was allowed as long as it was related to a point on the meeting’s agenda.

The meeting’s agenda, the sources said, included the “Actual Political State of the Party”, and it is on these grounds that Perici Calascione deemed the motion to be admissible – on the basis that it was directly related to the agenda.

As expected, things became heated – shouting can be heard from the pavement below the PN’s fourth-floor boardroom, with one member shouting “this is not the party I love”, and another shouting “you should be ashamed”.

Executive members were asked simply whether they have faith in Delia as leader of the PN or not.

Earlier: Former Prime Minister Gonzi states that Delia should call for vote of confidence amongst tesserati

Earlier, Former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi that Adrian Delia should call for a vote of confidence amongst the party's tesserati. 

Gonzi's proposal seems to have been well received inside, prompting bangs of approval which could be heard from the street below.

Former Nationalist MP Michael Asciak also proposed that the party's executive committee votes on a no-confidence motion on Adrian Delia. 

Asciak said in a Facebook post this week that, when a party leader loses the backing of his parliamentary group it is 'game over', whatever the circumstances may be.

The PN executive is meeting this evening in what is expected to be a heated confrontation on the way forward following the events of the past days which culminated in the intervention of the President.

Gonzi told the committee members that he had never before felt the need to attend meetings so as to not influence the stature of the sitting party leader. He said that what had happened over the past few days with the parliamentary group was "dramatic" and cannot be ignored. 

He noted that, a few years ago, he had called a vote of confidence among the party's councillors who, back then elected the party leader. Since party leaders are now elected by the tesserati, Delia should call a vote of confidence by the party's paid-up members.

Gonzi had indeed called for a vote of confidence in his leadership in 2012 - a vote where he obtained 96% of the support of the party's councillors.

The news prompted the two dozen or so party supporters outside the PN's HQ to gather in some tense discussion over the situation, with not many of those present seemingly content with the stance taken by the former Prime Minister.

PN MP Chris Said - who proposed Therese Comodini Cachia as Delia's replacement and who put forward the vote of confidence against the embattled leader last week - spoke about how Delia had failed to improve the PN's performance in the polls. His speech was also met by applause.

MZPN President Joseph Grech also made an intervention, saying that “we are here to make the tough decisions, it is our obligation to do so." The MZPN was one of the first PN entities to openly say that Delia should step aside from party leadership after last week's vote.

It was only last Tuesday that the majority of members of the PN parliamentary group voted against retaining Adrian Delia as the Opposition Leader. Since then, it has been a roller-coaster of happenings which further exposed the differences that exists between the two factions – those who want to kick Delia out and those who are supporting him.

There were scenes of commotion at the PN headquarters in Pieta` as Therese Comodini Cachia arrived for a meeting of the party's executive committee on Tuesday. 

Comodini Cachia, who has been nominated by the 'rebel' MPs as Opposition Leader, said the PN had always worked for unity and would continue to do so.

Delia has refused to stand down, insisting that he has the backing of the paid-up members who elected him three years ago. The MPs who voted against him then proposed Comodini Cachia to be the new Opposition Leader.

But, asked to intervene, President George Vella, after meeting all Opposition MPs, ruled that Delia must remain in place as he is still the leader of the largest political group in Opposition. 

Still, the rebel MPs have insisted that they remain determined to bring about "the necessary change" in the party, with the discourse now slowly moving towards questions over whether the MPs will face consequences from the party and, if so, what they will be.

The rift is further compounded by the idea of the possibility that the rebel MPs are expelled from the party on the grounds that they worked against the party’s interests.

Some 80 members form part of the committee, which is presided by Alex Perici Calascione. The committee is also set to decide on the establishment of a disciplinary committee which was agreed to in the changes to the statute which were approved just two weeks ago.

Former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will attend the meeting. He did not give comments to the media as he walked into the building.

Delia said on Monday that he will be drastically changing his shadow cabinet. 

Most MPs did not give comments to the media as they walked into the PN headquarters.

 

They have exhausted all avenues - Mario Galea

Pro-Delia MP Mario Galea said those MPs who had now "exhausted all avenues" in their bid to remove Delia should accept the result or "face the consequences."

Galea said he did not agree with Lawrence Gonzi's suggestion that there be a new leadership election, insisting that this would not solve anything.

He said he was disappointed by what was happening, "because our adversary is the corruption of the Labour Party."

Decisions, he said, should be taken by the party structures.

Asked if Adrian Delia should call for another confidence vote, Galea said the PN leader had already been confirmed twice. He also said the 2017 leadership election was "vitiated" after then party leader Simon Busuttil had called on Delia to reconsider his position.

He said he hoped this was a "case closed" after the President's decision on Monday.

Hermann Schiavone said he was, first and foremost, loyal to the party. The polls have not been on the PN’s side for a number of years and what the ‘rebel’ MPs were doing was “consequential,” he said.

Schiavone is an MP who was traditionally loyal to Delia, however he voted against the embattled leader seven days ago.

MPs' action 'consequential' - Hermann Schiavone

Schiavone said the Constitutional process had been temporarily put to the side while the political process took over.

He also said he agrees that there should be a leadership contest.

Former Secretary General Clyde Puli said a discussion would take place in the executive, while Claudio Grech said the important thing now is that “we move forward.”

'There should be continutity on party discipline'

PN executive committee member Andre Grech said he had written to the president of the executive committee for action to be taken against the dissenting MPs but said this item was not on tonight’s agenda.

He noted that Lawrence Gonzi had warned against taking action, but noted that the party had, in 2013, taken disciplinary action against Franco Debono after he voted with the Labour government. “I expect continuity,” he said, adding that this would have to be a decision by the committee.

Videos and photos: Alenka Falzon

Additional reporting: Shona Berger