Lawyer Adrian Delia took many by surprise when he announced that he would be campaigning for the post of leader of the Nationalist Party next
September. Vanessa Macdonald tried to find out what makes him tick and whether he has what it takes.

The party does not seem to like outsiders – judging by happened to Ivan Bartolo in the general election. Why would it be different for you?

Firstly, I don’t think we should judge the party by one decision, and secondly, I don’t think we should see the party as being one corporate structure. There are mechanisms, organisations and currents in every party, not only this.

I think that irrespective of what the party has done until today, given the not-so-desirable results of the last election, the party needs to change and present itself in a fresh, corporate manner going forward. It needs fresh faces, new ideas and people with energy and enthusiasm to turn this party again into a successful, election-winning machine – because I think this is the basic function of a party.

Daphne Caruana Galizia is reported to have said she would turn against the PN if you are successful. Are you doomed?

I was pretty surprised because I was expecting to be attacked, grilled or questioned by anyone from anywhere. But to take that attack to the party, the party that we all love and respect? That in my mind is a ‘no go’.

Please attack me and I will be there to defend my party, whether it is at the head or at the bottom or wherever in the party I would find myself.

You said that being a lawyer makes you ‘closer to the people’ than a career politician. How?

The intrinsic job of a lawyer is meeting people and listening to them, hearing their problems and working with them to find solutions. People mistakenly assume that there are only court or criminal lawyers, which is what we mostly hear about. But 90 per cent of lawyers are like me – I work in corporate law – working with clients…

Your clients are hardly the ‘man in the street’…

 They are the man in the street. They come from all walks of life, they are business people, who have interests in the simple things in life like property, with all the problems with their neighbour; they have spouses, children, families with problems; they are young people who aspire to owning companies and who want to succeed in life; they are youths with enthusiasm who expect a good education and opportunities.

What are the three most important skills for a party leader?

I would say he has to understand society and where it is going, to understand where his party has to position itself to take the aspirations of society to where they should be in the future. Let us call that ‘vision’.

The second would be having the ability to remain close to your roots: beliefs, values and principles. But not in a way that shackles you. They should inspire and educate you and give you the impetus to go forward.

And, of course, you need to be a good communicator. If you do not communicate your vision, grounded in your principles, and take that to the people – whether internally to the party, to people on the streets, or via the media – then you could be a great thinker, a secretary general, a statistician or a strategist. But not a leader.

A leader has to gain the respect of the people who want to follow him because they truly believe that they can trust him. I do not aspire to be only a leader from the fore but also from within.

You are making it sound terribly simple but Simon Busuttil had pretty much all of those properties and still failed spectacularly. Why?

I sent a message to Simon before the results were out and said that, in my mind, the measure of success is not the result but the sacrifice of having given whatever we have to what we believe in. So I do not and will not consider him to be a failure. He came into our party when it needed him and he left a lot behind to take the party forward; he rebuilt the values we believed in, he stood up for honesty and values, and I will not remove one brick from what he did.

Maybe what we lacked was that we could not communicate well enough with people who also wanted to hear other things.

Perhaps we did fight corruption, and did stand up against what was wrong, and we will continue to do that. But we also need to be positive and tell people that once justice is done and we ascertain that the structures of justice are strong and will be bolstered – then we will also affect their lives positively.

You mentioned values. Where do you stand on the conservative-to-liberal spectrum?

I do not think that tagging ideas and values does any good or that it interests people that much. These theologies and philosophies – these ‘-isms’ – take us back to the 19th and 20th century, where societies developed over a number of years. Communication was sparse and the dissemination of printed material was very limited to sectors of society. So the theories and labels of what politics should look like were very limited to a very few.

The evolution of society insofar as politics is concerned has happened very fast in the past few decades. Society today is changing every five minutes, not every 50 or 500 years. Getting shackled by definitions will not help us. We need to understand what people need and how they dream, what their requirements are going forward. It does not mean we are throwing away our values.

But with things like gay marriage, people want to know where you would stand.

That is a very simple question and I have no qualms about answering very straightforwardly. I do not make any distinction on either sex or gender. So in my mind, every single legal right belongs to every person. So I do not use definitions that would categorise people. Let us not use words. In my mind the way forward is very clear.

The Nationalist Party had this in its electoral manifesto, so there are no issues there. We need to be positive now. There are, however, changes in the law that are not what they were at the outset.

The draft law proposes to eliminate words like ‘mother’ and ‘father’, which I do not think is an issue of rights. Giving rights to one parent is one thing but removing concepts that define us is another.

So let us start looking at new legislative proposals where we can look forward to a society that caters for everybody.

A leader has to gain the respect of the people who want to followhim because they truly believe that they can trust him

In a previous interview, you referred to the emphasis on corruption in the PN campaign. But people feel that there was corruption under the PN just as under the PL. What would you do to create good governance?

Corruption seems to be entwined in the texture of mankind and society at all levels, whether political, religious, institutional or even sport. It will always rear its ugly head. As politicians, we need to adopt a stand. Zero tolerance or not? Should we negotiate with people who jump on the other side? In my mind, it is a ‘no’. I have been at the forefront in my world of sport over the past five years, fighting corruption at great personal risk. And I intend to continue the battle within the PN. And I also invite the Labour Party to be one with us to abolish corruption at whatever level – political, institutional, fiscal, etc.

Corruption of the few soon starts to spread across society.

What will you be doing between now and September to add substance to your bid?

I am already working round the clock to meet as many people as possible – and I apologise to those who I have not managed to get back to. The response has been amazing.

I will get more people on board, and generate ideas not only on presenting myself but also to convince the 1,500 party councillors. Those who know me already have a very clear idea of me as I am someone you either like or don’t. I am not the type you remain impartial to. However, my first job is to meet as many as possible of those who do not know me, individually or together in groups.

Then I also need to be more specific about proposals and what I can bring for both the party and for the country. Let us keep in mind: this is not only a race to become the leader of a party but also to convince that this leadership can win the next election.

Have any of the current party executives or MPs endorsed your bid so far?

It has only been a few days since I launched my campaign. At the moment, I am trying to meet as many parliamentarians as I can: I am very honoured that they are coming forward themselves. I also understand that in a party, the approach would be cautious because they might not be certain whether I will go through with this or whether I am just testing the waters.

I can assure you that I went public with it because my intentions are very clear. I will go through with it and I strongly believe I will win this because it is what I am hearing from people – on the streets, in the shops, in their homes.

You would be running for prime minister in five years’ time. Are you ruthless enough for that position?

(Pause) I would prefer not to be described as ruthless. Determined, yes. Confident, yes. Adamant, yes. Assertive, yes. Hard-headed, maybe. But ruthless? I would do my best to avoid getting to that stage.

One politician that I have much respect for said before I threw in my hat – I consulted with a lot of people before doing so – that “I entered politics because I believed I could change the way things are done, and the first day I feel that it is substantially changing me instead is the day that I should step aside”.

Your wife expresses very strong opinions on Facebook. Does that help or hinder you?

That is for other people to judge. I respect my wife – family is what gives me the strength to go through what I am doing. Whether it affects me positively or not is irrelevant. I do things because they are right, not because I weigh how many points they will win for me. Maybe I am a naïve politician or not a politician at all… yet.

The fact that my wife speaks out does not mean it is what I think. I am contesting this race and I am going into politics. That does not mean that I have to crush what my wife thinks. Opinions matter – whether yours, my friends’ or those of other people. Like every single dissenting opinion in the party, they matter! The ability of a leader is to weigh and decide. Nobody will get a preferential weighting on my measuring scale.

You are at the peak of your legal practice. Why on earth would you want to give up your career and income to become the leader of the Opposition?

Another great leader of the Nationalist Party – and we had a number of them – once said “Pajjiżek qed isejjaħlek” (“Your country is calling you”). That shout is vibrant in my ears and in my heart.

Out of 10, how do you rate your chances of success?

Shall I be ruthless? 10.

Delia backs call for vetting

Adrian Delia yesterday made it clear he backs a call for the setting up of a commission to vet all candidates bidding to enter the PN leadership race. 

The Times of Malta yesterday reported that Chris Said, the only other person to have so far declared he will be running for leader, supported the proposal made by Media.Link journalist Dione Borg.

Dr Said said this would flag any potential conflicts of interests before it would be too late.

A statement issued on behalf of Dr Delia yesterday said the article gave the impression he was not in favour of the suggestion when he had, in fact, suggested it to the Malta Football Association committee a while back.