It is time to take a decision to either remain on the path for a bigger loss for the party, or the path for a better party and future, Joseph Grech, president of the Nationalist’s Party youth movement, said on Friday.
He was addressing an extraordinary session of the general council, with members voting on whether the general convention should hold a vote of confidence in him or a leadership election.
“We have two roads ahead of us; we can take the road which we know, the road which can lead us to bigger mistakes, or we can chose a new road, one which can lead us to a new destination, a better party and future,” said the MZPN president.
Time and time again, MZPN has taken a stand that the Nationalist Party needs a new leader and has spoken openly of its loss of confidence in the party leader.
“This was not an easy decision,” said Grech, “we could have remained quiet, we could have sat back and watched the situation get worse and worse (…) we did not take the easy route, we decided to take the harder one, to continue to be persistent and fight for a better party.”
He said that MZPN took such a decision for the youths of the party, the same youths which the party has now moved away from. “The youths do not want a country where there are no alternatives to a lying and corrupt government.” He said that people want better democracy, both within the party and the country.
Grech highlighted that he was one of the many who voted for Delia three years ago, and that now he is ‘disappointed’ with the situation the party is in. “I voted for the current leader three years ago; do you think I am comfortable about the situation we find ourselves in because of the leader?”
He said that he was amongst the other members and councillors during the last meeting, where they were asked if the Nationalist Party could win the next general election. “Not even a quarter of the councillors have faith in the leader, many of us believe that the Nationalist Party cannot win a general election.” He said that despite the Labour government is full of corruption which has brought the country down on its knees; the Nationalist Party is still in no position to win the upcoming general election. “We have given up hope on our leader.”
Grech said that he, like many others have spent time thinking and deciding what can be done for the party. “If there are people who truly love the party and want this party to get back on its feet, we need a credible and relevant leader; one that has a vision for where the party needs to go and for the country.” He said that what the party is currently facing is extraordinary and it is unfair that the leader has put so much scrutiny on the party. “No one is bigger than the party and I am here to tell the tesserati (paid-up members) to do what is best for the party and take the decision for a new leader.
“To vote for a leadership election will provide us with candidates within the party showing us their skills and talents and what they can do to bring the PN in the right direction,” Grech said. “I believe that the party is ready to change, to be more credible, and to be a party for the people. Let us take the right road and I push the councillors to give the tesserati (paid- members) the choice for a new leader.”