The youth branch of the Nationalist Party has called on party leader Adrian Delia to "do the right thing" and step down.

Delia lost a vote of confidence during a parliamentary group meeting on Tuesday night but insisted he had no intention of stepping down as Nationalist Party leader.

In a post on Facebook, the Moviment Żgħażagħ Partit Nazzjonalista said democracy was not optional.

It said: “Following yesterday’s parliamentary group vote, held in light of exceptional circumstances that merited exceptional action, and following comments by Adrian Delia right after insisting he will ignore the vote of no confidence and return to work with a business as usual approach, we have no choice but to insist and call on Delia to do the right thing and step down.”

The MŻPN said the situation and Delia’s position was no longer tenable.

“The allegations he faces are immense, and he has been caught misleading the media and the party itself on his relationship with the wrong kind of people.”

On Sunday, Times of Malta revealed WhatsApp messages between Delia and Daphne Caruana Galizia murder suspect, Yorgen Fenech, after he had been outed as the owner of secret offshore company 17 Black. 

Following Tuesday night’s vote, the MŻPN said, business as usual was off the table.

One could not praise the democratic process when this worked in one’s favour and ignore it completely when it was not to one’s liking.

“No one is greater than the party,” it said.

MŻPN is the traditional youth wing of the party but Team Start, the branch set up under Delia's leadership, has not commented since the vote.