Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech announced his resignation from his post on Tuesday, saying a change in leadership is the "best solution" at this point in time for both the party and the country.
Grech’s resignation comes in the wake of a disastrous political survey which placed the PN some 39,000 votes behind the PL – effectively eradicating the momentum it had gathered from an encouraging result in the European Parliament elections exactly 12 months prior.
In an address to the nation on party media, Grech said that five years ago he had put his name forward to be the next PN leader “with a strong sense of duty and responsibility” towards the country and the party, because he felt he had a responsibility to the country to not “let the PN collapse.”
“I found a party with a lot of wounds, internal fighting, and emerging from a large electoral defeat,” Grech said.
He noted the party’s electoral fortunes at the time: losing the European Parliament elections in 2019 by 34,000 votes and the local council elections that same year by 47,000 votes.
“I entered this post with one priority: to do everything to unite the party.”
He said that at the time he had no idea when the next general election would be, but was only certain of one thing: to have the determination to do everything “humanly possible” to be prepared in the best way possible.
“Despite the result not being what we wanted, we made a step forward: we renewed the parliamentary group with almost half of the MPs being first time parliamentarians,” he said, speaking of the 2022 general election.
He then spoke about last year’s European Parliament elections and Local Councils elections, saying that the party had managed to obtain “encouraging results” that reduced the gap from 34,000 votes to 8,000 votes in the European elections and obtained new majorities in several localities in the local council elections.
“On a personal level, these were 5 years where I experienced beautiful emotions and other very hard ones. There was great satisfaction when we managed to help, and whenever we gave new hope to people; but also sadness whenever I understood that we could have taken better decisions,” he said.
He spoke of the losses of the last five years: both of his parents, former PN deputy leader Robert Arrigo, former PN Secretary General Francis Zammit Dimech, and “most likely the greatest loss on all levels” the person who was set to be the PN Secretary General Karl Gouder.
He thanked his wife and children for the “big sacrifices” that they had made.
“The time has now come for this party, which I have had the privilege and honour to be the leader of, to start a new chapter,” he said.
“The same sense of duty and great responsibility which led me to drop everything and come in to be party leader, has today with, great serenity, given me the conviction to leave this post in the hands of someone who can lead this party forward with the interest of the Maltese and Gozitan people in mind,” he continued.
“I have concluded that a change in leadership is the best solution for the party to take the next step, continue growing, and continue strengthening towards an alternative government,” he said.
“I have therefore informed the Secretary General that I am resigning as leader of the Nationalist Party, and I will be calling an executive meeting so that the process for the appointment of a new leader begins in line with the statute,” he said.
He said that he will remain party leader until his successor is appointed.
“I promise that he, or she, who will succeed me will have my full support and loyalty,” he said.
He thanked all those who have helped him throughout this “beautiful journey” and said that he had celebrated with everyone when there was hope and has no doubt that whoever comes after him will strengthen that hope. He also requested forgiveness from all those he had let down.
“Today I look back and I am satisfied to leave the party stronger than I found it,” he said.
“Have courage, the future of the PN is beautiful as long as we keep working together,” he concluded.