A petition to move a vote of no-confidence in Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia may be stopped in its tracks, according to sources close to the leadership who believe such a move would be “inadmissible”.

They are insisting that according to the PN statute, the PN leader cannot be forced to step down and must serve for at least an entire legislature, unless he or she decides to resign of their own accord.

On the other hand, those calling for Dr Delia to put his leadership to the test in the general council disagree completely with that interpretation.

Speaking on condition of anonymity they insist that any move Dr Delia makes to deny such a vote and hide behind legal arguments would only serve to dent his democratic credentials and plunge the party in a deeper crisis.

“It is already unprecedented that such a petition has been started and any leader who has the party interest at heart would either call it day or at least call the vote himself,” they insisted.

“Nonetheless, the general council must be convened, and if necessary a vote will be taken on whether the no-confidence motion is admissible or not,” they said.

Dr Delia’s camp argues that the PN statute only allows the party leadership to be put to the test within a restricted time window – “within three months of a general election, whereby a vote is held among all paid-up party members in a general convention to confirm the leader and the two deputies”.

PN members who want Dr Delia to quit as party leader circulated a petition over the weekend calling for a secret vote to be taken on whether he should remain at the party’s helm.

People mill outside the PN's headquarters during a late-night parliamentary group meeting last week. Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

A proviso in the PN statute states that a general council – the party’s highest organ, made up of around 1,300 delegates – can be convened if a petition amasses at least 150 signatures.

The petition calling for the secret vote surpassed that target on Sunday.
Calls for Dr Delia to resign have been going on for months, but momentum has increased following last month’s disastrous MEP and council election defeats.

However, the embattled PN leader has resisted these calls even when given an “ultimatum” by the majority of his own MPs.

Consequently, Dr Delia’s critics have turned to calling a general council meeting to hold a vote of confidence.

No legal basis?

Sources close to Dr Delia argue that the attempt is destined to fail.

“While the general council is the highest organ, article 25 of the statute says clearly that it has no power to change decisions regarding the election of the leader and his two deputies,” they said.

“Such a restriction is meant to offer a degree of stability, as otherwise any leader could have to face a confidence vote within weeks of being democratically elected,” they pointed out.

Dr Delia would not be required to step down even if a majority of PN MPs declared they had no confidence in him, they believe.

“The consequence would not be his resignation as party leader, but for the President to appoint somebody else as Opposition leader,” they told Times of Malta.

In terms of the constitution, the president appoints as the leader of the opposition a member of the Opposition who commands the support of the biggest number of Opposition MPs.  

However, these sources acknowledged that a petition to call a vote of confidence would nonetheless pile pressure on the PN leadership.

"While procedurally such motion may not be allowed, it would still raise questions on whether Dr Delia’s position would be realistically tenable,” they said.