Efforts are underway to collect enough signatures for Adrian Delia to face a confidence vote before an extraordinary session of the PN general council.

According to the party statute, the council, which is the party’s highest organ comprising representatives from all branches and section committees, can be convened if there is a written request by at least 150 members. 

The council totals around 1,300 members.  

The only alternative left is to bring the matter before the general council

Party sources said the move was triggered by the dismal showing in Saturday’s European Parliament elections which saw the PN obtain 37.9 per cent of first-count votes – the lowest tally in a national election since 1951.  

The idea was mooted on Sunday, within hours of the announcement of the unofficial result.  

“Given that the Parliamentary Group is reluctant to take any action despite the majority of MPs losing confidence in Dr Delia, the only alternative left is to bring the matter before the general council,” sources said.

In his first reaction to the landslide defeat, Dr Delia last Sunday said the party would analyse the outcome but it should not get disheartened or give up. Moreover, Dr Delia insisted he would not be resigning, saying the ultimate test was the general election.  

Read: Delia says his target remains 2022 election

Calls for Dr Delia to resign had been made at the start of the year, in the wake of claims about his personal finances, alleged domestic violence and his involvement in a money-laundering investigation by the FIAU. However, the PN leader had ridden-out the storm, while denying any wrongdoing whatsoever. 

According to the party statute, the general council must meet within three months of a general election to discuss the result. However, there is no such provision for the European Parliament election.

Times of Malta sought a reaction from the top PN officials on the way forward and the manner in which it will be taking stock of the situation. 

The Labour Party won by another landslide. Photo: Chris Sant Fournier

Mark Anthony Sammut, the president of the executive committee – a more restricted organ comprising representatives from the party structures – said he  would reserve his comments to a later stage, after the publication of the local council election results which will be out by next Friday. 

We need to face reality and not bury our heads in the sand

However, Mr Sammut did not mince his words to express his concern on the dismal result.

“The fact is that we have failed to retain the 100,000 core voters we had in 2009 and 2014 MEP elections, and it’s the first time since 1951 we’ve sunk to 37.9 per cent of the vote. The gap (from Labour) has now widened to 16.4 per cent, and that’s a step backwards not forward,” he said.

The executive committee president warned against any attempt to play down the situation.

“The worst thing we can do is to brush this off as if this was in some way expected. We need to face reality and not bury our heads in the sand,” he said.

Administrative Council president David Stellini declined to comment. No replies were received in time to questions sent to general secretary Clyde Puli.

‘Delia must go’ 

Former PN strategist and Misco director Lawrence Zammit called for Adrian Delia’s resignation in the wake of the landslide defeat suffered on Saturday. 

“The result shows that he does not have the respect and backing of the electorate. If he stays, I fear the PN will keep getting these results,” he said on Newsbook. 

The former PN strategist, who was part of Eddie Fenech Adami’s kitchen cabinet, noted that the party was in regression in terms of first-count votes in elections and consequently needed a radical overhaul. 

Read: Do not downplay electoral disaster, warns former PN leadership candidate

Rumblings of discontent were also vented by former PN leadership contestant Alex Perici Calascione on Facebook who warned that “nobody is bigger than the party”, while cautioning against being in denial on what he described as the party’s biggest electoral failure.

“The bigger the electoral gap, the stronger the people’s message and the more urgent the need to react to it. Nobody is bigger than the party,” he wrote. 

“I am ready to play a part,” he added.