Nationalist Party deputy leader Robert Arrigo said on Tuesday that he will not seek election to any post within the party once his term as deputy leader expires.
Arrigo has been deputy leader for the past five years, serving under Adrian Delia and then Bernard Grech. His term expires when the PN convenes a general council meeting in the coming weeks, as its rules demand when it loses a general election.
Speaking on Net Television, Arrigo said he was proud of his work as deputy leader and also for getting re-elected from two districts in the fourth general election in succession. But at 67 he was getting on, he said, and his activities, including raising over €600,000 for the party in the past few months, were a strain. Furthermore, he said, some considered him 'one of the old ones' within the party.
He thanked all those people who had voted for him and promised to continue to be of service to them.
Arrigo raised eyebrows in the wake of the general election result when, in a tweet, he pleaded for Roberta Metsola, president of the European Parliament and a Nationalist MEP, to help the party. He made his appeal shortly after Bernard Grech announced he would seek re-election to the party leadership.
Arrigo admitted to Net TV that the election result made him feel miserable, despite garnering huge personal support from voters. He admitted that he did not have a direct role in the PN electoral campaign, although he was involved in its fund-raising.
In announcing his intention not to seek election to any post within the party, he said he had done his duty and learned a lot.
Arrigo, 67, a hotelier, was Sliema mayor before being elected to parliament. He was the shadow minister for tourism in the last legislature.
He was one of two deputy leaders in the PN, his role focused on party organisation. The other deputy leader, David Agius was responsible for party affairs. He too has been deputy leader since the election of Adrian Delia and has not indicated whether he will seek re-election. He was not picking up the phone on Tuesday evening.