Abela refuses to rule out early election amid PN turmoil
The PN's problems transcend the leadership, prime minister says
Robert Abela on Tuesday repeatedly refused to rule out calling a general election in the midst of a PN leadership race or soon after a new PN leader is elected.
"The timing of a general election is dictated by the national interest" the prime minister said.
"It is my prerogative to decide what is in the national interest. I believe I have always done that."
Speaking to journalists in the wake of PN leader Bernard Grech's decision to resign, Abela thanked Grech for his work saying he had a cordial relationship with him for the last five years.
"There were moments when we disagreed. That is understandable as we sit on opposite sides of parliament. But from my side and I believe his, there was always reciprocal respect".
Abela argued that the Nationalist Party's problem transcended that of the leader. The PN was busy attacking itself and its own leaders, but its problems were far deeper than a single individual.
"One has to wonder what the situation would have been like for the country had it been the PN that was in government in the past 12 years," Abela said, adding that the country had already been in turmoil in the last months of the PN government before the 2013 election.