Portelli questions what antiDelia petitioners will do if leader wins Saturday vote

● Exponents remind of past confidence vote majorities

Things are heating up in the runup to the PN’s General Council with both sides of the party divide upping the ante with their comments.

On one hand, former PN Media Chief Pierre Portelli on Tuesday questioned what those who have protested against Adrian Delia’s protestors within the PN will do, "when Adrian Delia gets the green light to proceed to the next general election."

Portelli, who resigned from his post within the party last June, was hitting out against those within the PN who are opposing Adrian Delia as the embattled leader approaches a vote of confidence this coming Saturday.

Portelli seemed to be reacting to posts making the rounds on social media by those who are against Delia’s leadership, which ask what will happen after Delia loses the vote. These posts state that Louis Galea is already there working on party reforms and will continue to do so; that an acting head can be appointed until an election for a new leader takes place; and that there are enough competent people to contest when such a leadership election is called.

Portelli, commenting on Facebook said: "As they prepare to take over again, so full of themselves are they that they've outlined how we should conduct ourselves in the months to come, lest another one outside the clan gets through. The big question they need to answer fast is what will they do when Adrian Delia gets the green light to proceed to the general election. For this is the only legitimate question they can answer.

The rest is totally outside their remit for they have no platform from which to stand and tell the rest of us how we ought to conduct ourselves. It's appalling that while journalists quiz Adrian Delia if he'll step down in case of a no vote yet no media outlet has pinned the detractors to state their immediate future plans in case of a yes vote."

PN Executive Council member Louise Tedesco meanwhile also wrote a scathing opinion piece blasting what she called the “Barra Brigade”, saying that the same people who had made “flawed” decisions in the past – such as to abstain on civil union and to partner up with PD in the 2017 election – which had led to a loss of support in the PN, were now pointing their fingers at the current leadership.

The faction of party members who are opposed to Delia meanwhile, through their Facebook page ‘PN mill-gdid rebbieh’, are also strongly campaigning their side of the coin, with one of the most recent posts being to indicate that former PN leaders Eddie Fenech Adami and Lawrence Gonzi had won 97% and 96% of the vote in their respective votes of confidence in 1996 and 2012.

This is seemingly implying that should Delia obtain a similar result, then there is still space to challenge his leadership as he would lack the faith of a sizeable chunk of the party.

In fact, Mark Anthony Sammut – one of the main exponents behind the petition against Delia’s leadership and the party’s former Executive President – told The Malta Independent on Sunday, when asked whether he will accept the vote or continue opposing Delia if the party leader wins the confidence vote next Saturday, mentioned this notion.

“I am a democrat and I always respect the outcome of every vote. When Fenech Adami and Gonzi called a vote of confidence in their leadership, they garnered well over 90 per cent of the vote, even though only a two-thirds majority is required when the Leader runs uncontested. Let’s hope that Delia can bring himself to live by these standards as well. We must not forget that this is not just about the councillors. This is about whether he can enjoy the trust of the wider electorate, who are not obliged to accept anything decided by the Party: the results last May spoke volumes about that,” Sammut told this newsroom.

Similar questions were sent in writing by this newsroom to three PN MPs – Jason Azzopardi, Simon Busuttil, and Karol Aquilina – who are considered by many to be the most critical of Adrian Delia’s leadership, but they remained unanswered at the time of writing.