If the PN were to expel the 19 members of the parliamentary group who are pushing for Adrian Delia’s resignation, the party would end up not only without an Opposition Leader, but also without a Whip and without any MEPs.

The embattled PN leader stepped up the rhetoric on Sunday, saying that “there is no place in the party” for people who are not ready to pull the same rope.

It was his starkest warning yet since he lost two confidence votes – one in the parliamentary group and the other at the PN’s executive committee.

Quizzed by this newsroom yesterday, he again insisted that those who refuse to work with the party will have to shoulder the responsibility.

Two weeks ago, 17 MPs and the PN’s two MEPs, voted against Delia during a meeting of the parliamentary group. A week later, Delia lost a confidence vote in the executive, with 47 members voting against, 36 voting in favour and one person abstaining.

Delia has been facing calls to step down over disastrous survey results and the publication of messages allegedly sent to him by 17 Black owner Yorgen Fenech.

The dissenting MPs have called on the President to remove Delia from Opposition Leader and replace him with Therese Comodini Cachia. President Vella has said, however, that he cannot appoint an Opposition Leader who is not also the leader of the largest party in opposition.

Adrian Delia has also been urged to hold a vote of confidence at the PN’s General Council or to go for a fresh leadership election. He has so far resisted these calls, arguing that he wants to respect the vote of the party members who elected him in 2017.

There has been talk of a party split, although the ‘rebel’ MPs have insisted that they do not have any intention of forming their own party.

Delia said last week that he would carry out a reshuffle of the shadow cabinet. He said this is inevitable since several MPs have said they do not have confidence in him. In an interview in The Malta Independent on Sunday, Delia said he would be proposing “concrete action” during the next meeting of the executive committee, which will be held on Thursday evening.

But in a Facebook post on Sunday morning, Delia upped the tempo, saying that there is no place in the party for those who are only interested in causing damage if they do not lead the party themselves.

“I will only say that the moment for decisions has arrived – and maybe you are right in saying that I should have acted long ago. However, my conscience and duty required that I first do my best to welcome even those who never wanted me”, the embattled leader continued.

“I am going to be clear: there is no place for people like these in the PN. In the PN, there is place for everyone who is of good will. In the coming days I will act”, he said.

“They will attack us. They will try and dirty us. They will invent things about us. But they will not scare us, and they will definitely not intimidate us”, he said in his rallying cry.

Speaking to this newsroom yesterday, Delia said it is “pointless” to try and work with people who refuse to work with him and said action will be taken through the party structures.

This newsroom has already reported that Delia cannot simply sack the dissenting MPs – that decision can only be taken by the executive, where Delia has lost support, as evidenced in last week’s vote.

Sources explained that, even if he manages to expel the MPs, it would spell disaster for the party.

The MPs would have no choice but to set up their own party and, since the majority of opposition MPs would form part of this new group, they would have the prerogative of appointing the Opposition Leader and the Opposition Whip.

Also, if the entire parliamentary group were to be kicked out, the PN would also suddenly find itself without any MEPs.