A number of Nationalist Party MPs who had supported Adrian Delia have now pledged their loyalty to the party’s new leader, Bernard Grech.

One of the party’s two deputy leaders, Robert Arrigo, a staunch Delia backer, also got behind Grech. 

“The clarity of the vote taken gives the PN a new leader," Arrigo wrote.

“He will be my fifth leader in my long years of service to the party. Consistent as always, my loyalty is absolute to Bernard Grech as kap,” Arrigo wrote on Facebook. 

Arrigo said he would remain deputy leader until the end of his tenure, adding that the next general election was “crucial” not only for the party but also for the country.

“Malta needs us,” he wrote.

Likewise, MP Edwin Vassallo, another Delia supporter, said he was pledging his support to the new party leader because his loyalty was first and foremost to the party itself.

MPs Carm Mifsud Bonnici and Mario Galea did the same, echoing Vassallo’s comment that their loyalty to the party did not change with a change in leadership.

PN whip Robert Cutajar posted a similar pledge on his Facebook page, saying he never took sides during the leadership campaign because his role required him to remain focused on parliamentary work.

Deputy leader David Agius repeatedly ignored calls, messages and questions about the matter sent via WhatsApp. But in a Facebook post later, he said he had had a private and positive meeting with Grech and congratulated him on his new position in the party and in the country.

He promised to continue serving as the party’s deputy leader and said he will work hard and loyally for the party to be a strong, alternative government for Malta and to once again become the natural choice of Maltese and Gozitan businesses and families.

Efforts proved futile to contact other MPs who had stayed out of the camp of the dissenting MPs when they tried to force a change in the party leadership.

Robert Arrigo is among those who have pledged loyalty to Grech.

While most of the party's MPs were quick to fall into line and back the party's new leader, some PN councillors and activists were not so keen to have Grech as their leader.

Ħamrun councillor and PN stalwart Louise Tedesco and one of Adrian Delia's key canvassers, Andre Grech, both announced that they were quitting the party following the election result.