Nationalist MP Ivan Bartolo will on Monday be giving up his seat in parliament to newly-elected leader Bernard Grech.

Grech was elected as new leader of the Nationalist Party with 69.% of party members' votes as incumbent Adrian Delia conceded the election on Saturday evening.

Since Bartolo was elected in a casual election to fill the seat that had been vacated by Marthese Portelli, his replacement with Grech will be by co-option at a PN executive meeting.

In a post on Facebook on Sunday, Bartolo said Nationalist Party members have spoken loud and clear.

“They elected Dr Bernard Grech to the top post of the party. Bernard is now the new ;eader of the Nationalist Party.”

“As promised, I will tomorrow vacate my seat in parliament to enable Bernard to become a member of parliament and the leader of the opposition. With thousands of party members, and an even greater number of Maltese citizens, I hope that this little step will be the beginning of a renewal process both of our party as well as of our way of doing politics.”

He said his seat in parliament was entrusted to him by constituents of the 9th district and this was a privilege he would never take for granted. 

“I will never forget that this seat belongs to the people and they simply entrusted me to represent their hopes, their desires, their aspirations and their needs in parliament.”

Bartolo said that, at all times he was only inspired by a deep seated motivation to serve the people Malta.

“It is this conviction that leads me to do all in my power to enable the Partit Nazzjonalista to really be an effective and credible Opposition and trustworthy enough to govern the country if the people calls us at the polls.”

Bartolo said he wanted to assure everyone that he intended to become even more active and committed, especially in the localities he contested.

This, he said, will give the Nationalist Party the right to start gaining the lost trust and regain the confidence that it can be an alternative government.

“I bow out of parliament with my head held high as my action is the fulfilment of people’s desires and aspirations. A first step to start fueling hope that will lead to a united and renewed Nationalist Party.”

In 2017, it was Jean Pierre Debono who had given up his parliamentary seat to make way for Delia.