MP Claudio Grech, whose name is also among those being floated to replace Adrian Delia, has pledged to support Comodini Cachia if she runs for party leader.

“Over the last days, in very difficult circumstances, Comodini Cachia emerged as a calm and unifying figure for the team. In my books, that is a clear signal of strong leadership. The bottom line is I don’t go back from my word: as long as Therese is contesting, she will have my support.”

The issue at hand is not “about individuals or personalities” but something Grech said is much more fundamental: the survival of a viable democracy in our country. 

He said: “With that in mind, this is equally not a matter of where I fit into the equation, be it as leader, MP or simply a volunteer helping out in campaigns. Personally, I’m not driven by self-preservation.

Delia opted for route which will inevitably stir further division, conflict and fragmentation

“This is why I suggested in both the parliamentary group and the executive committee that the ideal route was for Delia and a number of us MPs to make way for a group of younger budding politicians and give the electorate a fresh PN line-up.”

Therese Comodini Cachia. Photo: Mark Zammit Cordina

Although one of the so-called younger MPs, Grech said he has offered to be the first to give up his parliamentary seat for this purpose and to ensure that “the usual paranoids” would not think he was proposing this “to fulfil any conspiracy theory”.

This would have given the party councillors and the members an opportunity to shape the future on the back of a young, united and competent breed of politicians sharing a common goal, he said.

“Unfortunately, Delia didn’t take up this proposal and instead opted to go down a route which will inevitably stir further division, conflict and fragmentation.”

Comodini Cachia, who was nominated by a majority of her PN MP colleagues to serve as opposition leader, has implied that she will run for the party leadership, should the post be up for grabs.

"Should the opportunity arise... I will also stand up and be counted," she told Times of Malta on Saturday. 

Other potential candidates for the post include former PN executive president Mark Anthony Sammut and lawyer Bernard Grech. 

A leadership race is not set in stone: on August 1, PN councillors will vote whether to hold a confidence vote in current leader Adrian Delia or hold a new contest to elect a party leader.