PN leader Adrian Delia declared on Sunday that 'decision time' had come for the Nationalist Party and there was no space within it for rebel MPs.
He made his comments on Facebook in the wake of a Malta Today survey showing him badly trailing the prime minister in the trust ratings, while Therese Comodini Cachia, nominated last week to lead the rebel MPs in parliament, was matching him.
Delia said decision time had come within the PN. Although some may have been right to say he should have acted earlier, he had tried his best to accommodate those who never wanted him to lead, he said.
In the PN there were those who wanted to cause harm unless they were at the helm.
"Let me be clear: There is no place for such people in the PN. In the PN there is place for people of good will, he added.
"I will take action in the coming days. I invite you to join me in carrying out the needed change," Delia said.
He insisted he would not be scared or intimidated.
Survey results show need to replace leader - PN rebels
Earlier, the group of rebel MPs said the new survey results underscored the need to replace the leader of the Nationalist Party.
The group, which represents the majority of Opposition MPs, said that the Malta Today survey was worrying for all those who wished to see a strong, serious Nationalist Party that was a credible alternative to the scandal-rife Abela government.
They observed that there was a 45 percentage point difference in the trust ratings of the party leaders and should a general election be held now, the PN would lose by 80,000 votes.
They also observed that Therese Comodini Cachia achieved the same results as Adrian Delia, just one week after she won the confidence of the majority of PN MPs, and without enjoying the party media platform which Delia has.
It was also significant that among those who did not vote in 2017, Comodini Cachia won the backing of 9% while Delia got none.
"These results show the urgent need for the PN party members to be called to choose a party leader who can unite the Nationalist Party and prepare it for the general election," the MPs said.
Failure to do so would condemn the PN to a disastrous electoral outcome, something which no one who loved the PN wanted.
The MPs said they were therefore determined to lead the members to choose a new party leader as soon as possible.
MP Herman Schiavone, in further observations about the survey, said in a Facebook post that in the North of Malta and in Gozo, Comodini Cachia achieved better survey results than Delia.
And in the south, despite the perception that Delia was strong, Comodini Cachia achieved the same results as him.
Separately, PN deputy leader Robert Arrigo said the survey did not bring much joy for the 'designate leader of the opposition'.
"She fell on the first hurdle. This Maltatoday survey contradicts her statement that she felt that the party is now united," he said.
"Adrian knowingly kept bridges open. Love or hate, attacking the party is not an option. Today this is now public knowledge, unfortunately. There were 3 years of insider submarine attacks on the party. A real pity to the dismay of the PN voters and those newly joining. The picture gets worse, as these attacks go against democracy. Ultimately Malta ?? will suffer," he wrote on Facebook.
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