Roberta Metsola will not run for PN leader

Updated 3.30pm with insiders' reactions

Roberta Metsola will not be contesting the Nationalist Party leadership.

Metsola said in a statement on Saturday that she would not be taking part in a PN leadership race to elect a successor to Bernard Grech, as she could not abandon her commitment to the European Parliament halfway.

“Over the past days I tried to find a formula through which I can help the Party in the best possible way, while also fulfilling my duty responsibly as President of the European Parliament, a commitment I cannot abandon halfway,” she said.

“I understand that this formula cannot involve me becoming the next party leader. Nonetheless, I am now more willing than ever to support the new Leader in any way and role where I am called to serve, so that we strengthen the Party, win the election, and save our country.”

Metsola said the new party leader would have her “full support”.

Bernard Grech: I respect her decision

In a comment on RTK 103, outgoing party leader Bernard Grech declined to say whether he was disappointed by Metsola's decision.

"I respect her decision and expect there will be people who come forward to assume the role [of party leader]," he said.  "I have my own views [about the decision] but I'm not going to get into that." 

The MEP and European Parliament President was widely considered the PN’s consensus candidate and would have been a shoe-in for the post had she chosen to contest.

Her decision to back out of the race means the PN must now prepare itself for a hot summer of campaigning by candidates vying for the post.

While nobody has declared their intention to contest as yet, potential candidates include former leader Adrian Delia, MPs Alex Borg and Darren Carabott and former MP Franco Debono.

Metsola had hinted at her intentions in a brief comment to reporters earlier this week that she had “a responsibility” to fulfil in Brussels. Metsola’s term runs until early 2027.

A week of uncertainty

The PN has spent the past week in a state of uncertainty, having been caught on the back foot by Bernard Grech’s sudden decision to resign.

Grech said on Monday that he wanted the party to start a “new chapter” and pledged loyalty to whoever would succeed him as leader.

Party grandees subsequently started leaning on Metsola to return to Malta and assume the party leadership. Metsola then began speaking to MPs as she mulled a bid. 

One of the ideas reportedly floated in those talks was that of appointing Metsola as party leader with another MP, former leader Adrian Delia, serving as Leader of the Opposition.

But constitutional experts say that arrangement is legally impossible and earlier on Saturday Delia made it clear he would not be part of any such plan, saying party members alone should be responsible for electing the PN's new leader. 

Metsola braced for attacks

“There is no greater ambition in politics than to lead your party to electoral victory and be prime minister. But this is not about my personal ambitions, but rather about political responsibility,” Metsola said in her statement. “My commitment and focus cannot be divided." 

Metsola acknowledged that many might not agree with her decision and feel disappointed by it.

She also said she was braced for Labour “propaganda” that would seek to damage her reputation.

“They can’t stand to see a woman fight for what she believes in,” Metsola said. “But I will continue to battle everyday to ensure that everything I do and every decision I take shows the world the best our country has to offer.

“I will always be there for our party and country, as I have been since my youth.”

Anger among PN supporters

Metsola's decision not to run riled up party supporters, many of whom expected her to succeed Grech as leader. 

Supporters were furious when word emerged earlier this week that she wanted to assume the party leadership while remaining in Brussels until the end of her EP term. 

“This is beginning to look like political fraud,” one incensed insider told Times of Malta on Friday, before Metsola pulled out.

“She spent the past few years hinting at intentions to return and delivering speeches about ‘hope’. She created and fuelled the possibility of herself as a future ideal leader and prime minister, casting an ever-growing shadow on Grech.

“Then, when he resigned and paved the way for her, she simply told MPs and insiders she would not leave her Brussels seat. I feel deceived, and in my eyes that’s political fraud, because many of us voted for her, not so that she can become an MEP, but to strengthen her politically and position her very strongly as our future prime minister. So many people voted for her last year because that’s the message she was giving.”

Metsola won almost 90,000 votes in last year’s MEP election – the highest-ever vote tally by an MEP in Maltese electoral history.

Another insider said supporters would have understood her decision if she had clarified her desire to remain in Brussels during last year's election. Instead, she allowed them to hope. 

“During her mass rally before the election she literally delivered a speech against the backdrop of a huge Maltese flag with the word ‘hope’ splashed over it,” he said. 

“What was that supposed to mean if not a clear signal that she symbolised hope for the PN in Malta?”

Others expressed “profound disappointment,” saying they were very sad for a party potentially heading for its biggest electoral defeat in history. 

“Roberta would have been a uniting factor in the party. She had the support of everyone. All the people I spoke to wanted her to lead us.

”Had Metsola agreed to take on the reins, it would be the first time in a long time that the PN broadly supported one figure to lead the party.“If we don’t find someone that unites us, we are in trouble,” they said.

Another shared similar sentiments.

“I understand her obligations - but she has obligations to the country as well.”

Others, however, said the issues within the PN transcended any one leader.

“We need a clear vision of what the party stands for. Are we on the left or right? Are we pro-environment or pro-development? What do we want to achieve? These are issues the party needs to figure out. All the party needs to do that, not just a leader.”

Reporting by Bertrand Borg, Daniel Ellul and Mark Laurence Zammit