In the most shamelessly undemocratic ploy ever, Bernard Grech and Adrian Delia went to court. The ‘friends of convenience’ political duo insisted that the state advocate files a civil action for damages (read: sues personally, extract the money from, freeze the bank accounts of), against the prime minister, former health minister Chris Fearne and others (cabinet members and civil servants) in the now defunct hospitals’ deal.

It was personal vengeance they were after. Their pound of flesh. Political hatred at its very worst. Their intimidation tactics backfired and they were given a resounding dress-down by the courts. They lost miserably.

In a press conference shortly after the court judgment, Prime Minister Robert Abela said that, through his actions, the PN leader committed perjury because he (Grech) claimed, under oath, that the prime minister  was involved in criminal acts with Steward when the auditor general, a magisterial inquiry and two court sentences not only discredited these claims in absolute terms but, even more so, praised the action taken by the prime minister and his administration against Steward.

Driven solely by his obsessive ambition of becoming prime minister, leaving no stone unturned, Grech persisted in lashing out, personally, at the prime minister.

For Grech, it’s personal. His position within the PN is at stake. He was at the risk of being shown the door, last month; however, a lower voting turnout among traditional Labour Party voters, but with the PN making no new gains, meant that he will now stay on at least up till the coming general election. Until then, he will stop at nothing.

And, then, there is Delia. The man betrayed by 17 Nationalist MPs, who removed him as PN leader, and placed Grech in his place, flanked Grech on the court’s doorsteps shortly after their case was thrown out by the court.

Let’s put this into context. When Delia was PN leader, he initiated legal proceedings to strike down the hospitals deal. At the time, it was a one man show – for none of his MPs supported him in his quest. He made it clear, time and again, that he was left alone in his ‘fight’.

His MPs were more interested in dethroning him than in supporting the man who was elected PN leader on the back of an internal PN election that gave Delia a resounding victory over Nationalist MP Chris Said.

When Delia was eventually removed and Grech was placed in his stead, a court judgment ruled in Delia’s favour. It was only then that his backstabbers, unashamedly and out of political convenience, rallied around him – Grech included.

Following that court judgment, the prime minister lost no time in (i) invoking control step-in/hand-back procedures for the state to re-assume effective control over the hospitals and (ii) engaging in international arbitration proceedings to recover funds due from Steward Health Care.

For Bernard Grech, it’s personal. His position within the PN is at stake- Marija Sara Vella Gafà

The state advocate and local and international legal experts are doing their best to recover as much as possible from those funds.

Rather than joining forces with the government to recover the funds, Delia had other plans. He was on an ego trip and wanted to go further. PN insiders have often whispered that Delia’s ego is often the cause of his downfall.

The failed PN leader initiated baseless legal proceedings against the state advocate, where he not only insisted but also threatened the state advocate to institute a civil action to recover the money in the hospitals’ deal personally from the prime minister, among others.

Delia, together with PN lawyer Edward Debono, led the proceedings in court.

Delia and Grech failed miserably.

Mr Justice Toni Abela said that were the PN to have it their way, this would undermine the proper exercise of democracy and the rule of law, given that the state advocate would end up unlawfully assuming powers which are not vested in him at law and, thus, would end up acting in breach of his statutory and constitutional duties.

Addressing the press after the judge delivered his decision, a grim-faced Grech said he would keep up the ‘pressure’ and reiterated his lifelong ambition of becoming prime minister.

For years, Delia spoke against political hatred – himself having been at its receiving end from the ‘sacred cows’ within his party. But, in his desperate attempt to fit in with those who call the shots within the PN, he threw all caution to the wind and had no qualms of launching new legal proceedings, with no legal or factual basis, attempting to sue, personally, the prime minister.

The man has no shame. Since being ousted from the leadership post by his parliamentary colleagues, Delia is now much diminished in terms of credibility. The more he cosies up to the people from within his party who made his short stint as leader an unbearable experience, and the more he attacks, personally, the prime minister, to appease, and fit in, with his ‘colleagues’, the more his own credibility disappears.

This recent court judgment shows that dignity still matters in public office. The sad truth is Grech and Delia will never have it.

Marija Sara Vella Gafà is a lawyer and chairperson of the Labour Party’s Electoral Commission.