PN leader Adrian Delia insisted on Sunday the party must be closer to the people if it wanted its reforms to work. 

In a speech at the Zabbar club, Dr Delia likened the Nationalist Party’s struggles to those former British prime minister Winston Churchill had faced during the war.

“With no resources to win the war, Chruchill had just one thing – the people. 

“We will never give up. We are the party that when faced with the biggest challenges, we return to the clubs, we go back to the streets because the people are our calling and they fill us with energy and continue to inspire us. We promise we will keep fighting for you,” Dr Delia told party supporters.

Last week, the party leader has faced fresh calls to step down, this time by the majority of those in his parliamentary group. Despite this, a defiant Dr Delia remained steadfast in his determination to stay on as party leader.

A survey on Sunday 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 PN is currently in process of carrying out a reform, which will include, among other things, a process to amend its statute. 

Delia accuses PM of double standards

On Sunday, Dr Delia once again accused Prime Minister Robert Abela of being guilty of double standards after Minister Michael Farrugia refused to shoulder responsibility for a police force scandal which happened under his watch as Home Affairs Minister. 

“Dr Abela knew of these things and yet Dr Farrugia was appointed minister anyway. Why? Once he removed Gozo minister Justyne Caruana, why not Dr Farrugia? What does he know? We will find out,” he said. 

Dr Caruana resigned her post in January, just days after being re-appointed Gozo Minister by Dr Abela, after Times of Malta revealed her husband and former deputy police chief Silvio Valletta’s friendship with alleged Daphne Caruana Galizia murder accomplice Yorgen Fenech.

Dr Delia also accused Finance Minister Edward Scicluna of trying to deflect attention by handing people a €15 bonus while hiding fact that banks and investors were staying away from Malta. 

Linking this to another issue to make headlines in recent weeks, Dr Delia said the amount was the same as that which former minister Konrad Mizzi would have earned every hour had it not been discovered that he had been awarded a consultancy job with the Malta Tourism Authority. 

In January, Times of Malta had also revealed that Dr Mizzi had been engaged as a consultant and paid an €80,000 annual salary, less than two weeks after he resigned from his post as tourism minister. The contract was terminated a day after the revelation.