Watch: ‘My job is to take party to next election’: Grech on PN leadership jibes
PN leader says Abela is trying to 'destabilise' PN with leadership speculation
Bernard Grech insists he intends to lead the Nationalist Party into the next general election after the prime minister alluded to a snap election if the opposition party changes its leader.
“I am the leader of the Nationalist Party, and my job is to take the party to the next general election. At the same time, Robert Abela has a lot of problems of his own and is trying to destabilise the PN,” PN leader Grech said on Tuesday.
His comments come after Robert Abela said he would not rule out calling a snap election if the Nationalist Party “tries to destabilise parliament and the country with its internal theatrics” due to any leadership change.
It was unclear what instability the prime minister was alluding to, given that his Labour Party enjoys a commanding nine-seat majority in parliament.
Recent polls suggest the gap between Malta’s two leading parties remains significant at around 18,700 votes in the governing PL’s favour and that Abela continues to enjoy a higher trust rating than the PN leader.
Those polls also suggest PN voters prefer European Parliament president Roberta Metsola to lead the Nationalist Party over Grech.
On Tuesday, Grech said Abela’s statements about his leadership were simply a “projection” of his own leadership struggles.
“It is clear the prime minister is projecting what is happening to him onto others… he is trying to destabilise the Nationalist Party - we won’t allow it,” Grech said.