PN MP Adrian Delia said that he is convinced that the situation inside the PN has changed from his first stint as leader of the party, indicating that the divisions that were once there are no more.

A lawyer by profession, he had been appointed as leader of the Nationalist Party in 2017, after the resignation of Simon Busuttil, having been seen as an outsider at the time. Delia, while Opposition Leader, had initiated the court case which eventually resulted in the hospitals deal contracts being annulled by the courts. However his run as party leader at the time saw internal divisions form within the PN. Delia eventually lost two confidence votes, one within the PN's parliamentary group and the other in the Executive Committee. This resulted in a leadership election taking place within the party in 2020, which Bernard Grech had won. 

Delia has announced his interest in contesting for the PN Leader post, after Grech had declared his intention to resign earlier this month.

Stopped for a comment by this newsroom, Delia was asked about the internal division there was within the party when he was leader, whether those issues are now solved and if he bridged the gap with the section that went against him. Delia said that the time he spent considering and reflecting on whether to contest was intense, and this was one of the major factors he considered.

"I feel and have been morally and logically convinced that not only is that situation no longer the case, but there is a total turnaround and change of attitude now, which is welcoming and embracing rather than the other way round."

He was also asked what kind of impact he can have on the party should he win the election.

Delia said that the internal election comes in the context of Bernard Grech's resignation, which he described as "a surprise for everyone." He thanked Grech for the service he gave to the party. "Everyone knows that being in that position is no easy task. If there is anyone who appreciated what a sacrifice he went through for these five years its me, so thankyou Dr Bernard Grech." 

Delia said that there were a "substantial amount of people, including tesserati and colleagues, people from all walks of society, who in some manner approached me."

He said that he wasn't even thinking about it, but "once you have occupied the position of party leader, there is always this responsibility incumbent on you to be of service to the party when the party needs. So rather than deciding to contest, after a lot of reflection, consideration, dialogue and after the General Council where I had the occasion to meet hundreds of our councillors, I felt it incumbent on me to declare my interest."

He said that the way this approach from others happened, which he said was the opposite to the first time he had contested for the leadership post "when I had been knocking on the door from the outside," is telling "me that there is a whole process of uniting the party, bridging any divides which there were before, of closing the chapter of the healing process and looking forward to what we can do together and convening the sense of urgency that we need to hit the ground running because we are talking of around a year and a half, if not less, from when a new party leader is confirmed to the general election." He said that he has experience, but still has a fresh, new perspective to do a new way of politics.