Nationalist Party members who have repeatedly clashed with the PN’s current leadership have distanced themselves from a councillor’s praise of Italian right-wing politician Matteo Salvini. 

MP Beppe Fenech Adami, his brother Michael as well as former candidate Michael Briguglio were among the PN members who took to social media after Birkirkara councillor Justin Schembri made the controversial comments.

Mr Schembri had praised Mr Salvini’s hard line against immigration, writing on Facebook that “maybe many brand Salvini ‘racist’, but he is probably a sensible person because he wants to stop this trafficking and at the same time not let his country be accomplices in this wave of organised crime”.

Mr Schembri's comment.

Mr Salvini, who is Italy’s Home Affairs minister, has repeatedly refused to allow migrants into Italian ports, irrespective of international maritime law. 

On Friday, he reiterated that position as Malta prepared to take in 356 rescued migrants, to redistribute them across six other EU member states. 

“That you have a politician ready to put his foot down and defend what he believes in is something to be appreciated,” Mr Schembri wrote in apparent admiration. 

Internal criticism

The post did not go down well with some high-profile PN members. 

Michael Fenech Adami, who once served in the Birkirkara council Mr Schembri is now a part of, wrote that the latter’s comments were "#notinmyname" - a hashtag that was also used by a PN faction critical of leader Adrian Delia back in January.

His brother Beppe, an MP and former PN deputy leader, did not reference Mr Schembri's comments directly. Instead, he posted a photo of their father, former president Eddie Fenech Adami, holding a young black child in his arms. 

“These are the values I cherish. The values of my party. No matter what,” he wrote. 

Former electoral candidate Michael Briguglio also disagreed with the pro-Salvini sentiment, writing that "a social and ecological Europe needs less Salvinis and more coalitions of willing practitioners of solidarity".

Former Marsascala PN councillor Charlot Cassar went one step further. He argued that any PN member who did not demand that the party dissociate itself from Mr Schembri’s comments about Mr Salvini “would forever have their name linked to this fascist ideology”. 

Mr Cassar quit the party altogether in 2018 in protest against Adrian Delia’s leadership. 

Dr Delia has made some controversial comments about the influx of foreigners in the past, saying in April that “clans” of foreigners were “making society poorer”. 

He has however adopted a more humanitarian tone in recent weeks, writing earlier this month that Malta should “lead by example and save lives” as people attempting to cross the Mediterranean remained stranded at sea.  

'Human lives are priceless' - PN

On Saturday, the party expressed relief that the most recent crisis at sea, involving 356 people aboard the Ocean Viking, had been resolved. 

"Human lives are priceless and 356 people are not pawns in the hands of misguided political agendas," the party said.