Updated 2.20pm with PN statement -
Nationalist MPs on Sunday met and urged Adrian Delia to consider resigning the party leadership following a dismal showing in a Times of Malta poll.
Party sources said the Opposition’s parliamentary group had held an urgent meeting on Sunday morning and discussed, among other things, the results of a Times of Malta survey.
Published on Sunday morning, the survey found that the Labour Party has a lead of 23 percentage points over the PN.
It also found that Prime Minister Robert Abela is trusted four times more than Delia.
The embattled party leader also places fourth out of five suggested leaders for the PN.
One PN MP told Times of Malta that during the meeting held at around 10.30am, Delia was told that the “writing is on the wall” and that he should step down from his position now to allow the party to regroup.
Another source said that Delia was only backed by a handful of MPs during the meeting.
The source added that a similar meeting had been held just a few days ago, when MaltaToday published similarly poor results for Delia’s PN.
The source said that during that meeting, Delia had acknowledged their concerns and said he would get back to them. No reference to the calls were made when Delia spoke on a Net FM interview after the meeting.
“He says that and then does nothing, leaving everyone fuming, disgruntled, and demotivated,” the source said.
Delia has faced multiple moves to oust him from the party ever since he took over from Simon Busuttil in 2017.
Last summer he survived a confidence vote within the party’s highest organ, the general council.
Last July, he had obtained 68 per cent of support in a vote triggered by the electoral drubbing suffered in the European and local council elections of May.
PN: Group meeting called by Delia to discuss country's situation
In a statement, the PN said the parliamentary group meeting was called by Delia on Saturday and had one item on the agenda: 'The rot this country is in as it is held hostage by the same criminal gang now run by a proxy Prime Minister unable and unwilling to tackle them head on.'
"The PN Parliamentary Group is determined to put an end to this rot, strongly and unequivocally," the PN said.