PN leader Adrian Delia this morning showered MP Jean Pierre Debono with praise for offering to give up his seat for the good of the party and country.
Speaking during an interview on Radio 101, Dr Delia expressed his great respect for Mr Debono, and thanked other candidates on the seventh district for already indicating they too would give up their seat if elected during the casual election.
For Dr Delia to finally get a seat in Parliament, the person elected instead of Mr Debono would have to resign so that the PN leader could be co-opted.
Dr Delia stressed that Mr Debono’s decision was a selfless act and not part of some deal.
Mr Debono, who was also interviewed, said he would be handing in his resignation from Parliament tomorrow.
He said he had a “sleepless night over the decision” prior to offering to give up his seat, in what he described as the most difficult decision he had ever taken.
Mr Debono appealed to his colleagues on the seventh district to immediately pass on this seat to Dr Delia.
He said it was imperative that the party united behind Dr Delia, as the PN was not yet functioning as it should as a party in Opposition.
Dr Delia explained during the interview that the elections for two new deputy leaders would be concluded before the end of the year.
The process for these elections was being shortened for the PN to start off the new year with all its internal structures in place.
Dr Delia also spoke about the need to focus more on the rising tide of poverty. He said recent statistics showed that poverty had once again increased.
“Even having one person in poverty is too much”, Dr Delia said.
Many people did not even have the basic minimum income to live a decent life, he pointed out.
Statistics published by Caritas showed almost 100,000 people were struggling to make it to the end of the month.
He vowed to take up the fight against poverty as a priority from Opposition.
Dr Delia also questioned where the government’s surplus was going, noting that the wealth being created was not being felt by the people.