Bernard Grech would not commit to continuing to lead the Nationalist Party into next year's European Parliament elections when questioned by Times of Malta on Sunday.

Asked after the PN's general council meeting whether he plans to remain party leader at least until the MEP elections, he only insisted that he is determined to take decisions in the best interests of the party. 

Bernard Grech replies to questions.

“As I said during my general council address, I remain determined to begin each day by taking decisions in the best interest of the party,” he said.

“We are focused on our work to prepare a stronger party for the local council and European Parliament elections.”

Asked again whether that meant that he would still be leader by next year’s elections, Grech said nobody knew what would happen in the future and what was important right now was taking decisions in the best interests of the party.

Last week, Grech told MPs that he was prepared to do “whatever is best for the party and the country” as PN strategists pinned their hopes on Roberta Metsola eventually taking over the leadership of the struggling party. 

Grech was elected party leader with 69.3% of the members' votes in October 2020, succeeding Adrian Delia, whose short tenure was characterised by party infighting. He was confirmed in the post in May 2022 with 80% of the vote after the PN's crushing general election defeat.

A lawyer and political outsider, Grech had said in his acceptance speech in 2020 that "The Maltese people need this party and this team, and it will keep growing. "I am not perfect, but the people don't want perfection, they want genuineness. They want us to listen to them and to tell them the truth. We have to continue to recognise the people's needs and ensure that the Nationalist Party can once again become the natural party of the Maltese people."

But the party has continued to badly trail in opinion surveys. On Sunday, Grech told the meeting of the PN general council that he remained a person who always put all the cards on the table, but he complained that the party was still looking down on people and in a reference to internal divisions, said those within the party needed to have confidence in each other and work together, work harder and complain less. 

 

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