The Nationalist Party’s interim general secretary, Francis Zammit Dimech has urged members to “stop playing the blame game” and instead focus on making the party stronger. 

In his first public speech since his appointment on Wednesday, amid open rebellion by a number of MPs against Adrian Delia's leadership, Dr Zammit Dimech said the party now faced an important test – whether it could come together to weather the storm.

“Our test is to serve together, with absolute loyalty towards the party and the country. Malta deserves a united party and a strong Opposition that scrutinises the government,” he said at a party event at the Zabbar club. 

The former minister and MEP referred to the ongoing reform process within the party and said he found courage in the fact that the party leader was enthusiastically in favour of the same reform process.  

Dr Zammit Dimech’s comments come just hours after MaltaToday published a survey that showed that 56.8 per cent of the PN’s members still backed Dr Delia. The survey also showed, however, that just over a third of the members (33.6%) feel Dr Delia should resign.

The interim general secretary also dismissed claims by the Labour Party media arm, ONE, that there were arguments during a PN executive committee meeting held on Saturday.

“ONE news reported the meeting was full of disagreements – I asked myself, did I attend the same meeting? This was a complete lie.

“This is a strategy of fake news aimed at destroying us. My appeal in the face of such fake news is to become even more united,” he said.

Dr Zammit Dimech ended his speech by insisting that the PN “was, is and will remain” the alternative to a Labour government.