Ivan J. Bartolo, who was only elected to Parliament a few months ago, will vacate his parliamentary seat in order to give it to the new PN leader Bernard Grech.
Bartolo himself announced this in a Facebook post on Sunday morning.
Bartolo was elected last March in a casual election, replacing Marthese Portelli in the 9th district.
“I will never forget that this seat belongs to the people and they simply entrusted me to represent their hopes, their desires, their aspirations and their needs in Parliament”, he said.
He said that he was always inspired by a motivation to serve the people and to serve Malta, and that it is this conviction which leads him to do all in his power to enable the PN to be “an effective and credible Opposition and trustworthy enough to govern the country is the people calls us at the polls.”
“Throughout Malta and Gozo, the Nationalist Party members have yesterday spoken loud and clear. They elected Dr Bernard Grech to the top post of the party. Bernard is now the new Leader of the Nationalist Party”, he said.
“As promised, I will tomorrow vacate my seat in Parliament to enable Bernard to become a Member of Parliament and the Leader of the Opposition. With thousands of party members, and an even greater number of Maltese citizens, I hope that this little step will be the beginning of a renewal process both of our party as well as of our way of doing politics”, he added.
He assured his followers that he intends to become even more active and committed, especially in the localities where he contests, so that the PN can strengthen the country’s democracy and institutions by enacting all the necessary changes and renewal needed.
This will give the Nationalist Party the right to start gaining the lost trust and to regain the confidence that in fact it can be an alternative government, he said.
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“I bow out of Parliament with my head held high as my action is the fulfilment of people’s desires and aspirations. A first step to start fueling hope that will lead to a United and Renewed Nationalist Party. A Nationalist Party that only aims to deliver upon people’s Needs. That is Success”, he said.
Bernard Grech was elected to the PN leadership post on Saturday, bringing to an end a saga over the leadership of the party which started off last July, when the party’s parliamentary group voted against then-leader Adrian Delia.
He won a commanding 69.3% of the votes of the PN’s members in the election.
Grech – much like Delia was – is not a member of parliament, which means that someone would have to vacate their seat in order for him to take up a place in the House, where he will become Opposition leader.
Bartolo making way as of tomorrow, the day that Parliament reconvenes after the summer recess, will see Grech take his place.