Adrian Delia pledges loyalty and support to Bernard Grech

Adrian Delia yesterday pledged his loyalty to Bernard Grech and indicated that he will stay on as an MP.

Addressing his supporters, he said that he does not believe that they lost, instead saying that the PN won. The challenge, he said, is to stop the internal problems within the party.

The country needs a strong opposition, a strong PN that is united, he said.

“I will be loyal to the country first and foremost as I am Maltese and proud. I will be loyal to party as I am a Nationalist and I am proud. I will be loyal to leader as I believe that in every structure, if there is no loyalty to the leader, then you cannot succeed”

He said that he offers all his strength and energy so that Grech will find what he did not, support and loyalty.

He said that he fights for what he believes in - truth, justice, democracy, that corruption needs to be beaten, and that to do this there needs to be a strong organisation that does not make any compromises when it comes to its morals and values.

“From any position, even if there is no position, I will continue fighting for what I believe in,” he said.

Delia spoke of the need for the PN to be a party for the people. “I will remain in the PN to ensure that it will truly be a party for the people.”

Fielding questions from the press, he was asked what kept him back from being an effective leader. Delia said that it might have been that there were too many conservative elements wanting to resist the revolution he wanted to see within the party. “Maybe in three years you cannot change 140 years of history.”

Asked if he will be giving up his Parliamentary seat to Grech, Delia said it seems that there is no need for that, since other MPs have already offered their seat to the new PN leader.

“The tesserati’s message is clear, that they do not want to go backwards and do not want a leader who was there pre-2013.” He said MPs need to examine their conscience and understand that the people’s message is not only addressed to the leader. “The people want to change to new faces who I am sure can be introduced within the party.”

Asked about his future, whether he will go back to the private sector and what will happen to the VGH case, Delia said that he has to work, but it does not mean that he will leave politics.

On VGH he said that he is willing to continue the fight to bring back the hospitals to the people until it is won. He said that he believes in the fight, and invited Grech to “if he wants to continue it he can if he wants to unite with me he can and we will do it together. I will not let that fight be lost.”

Asked what role he sees himself as having within the party, Delia said that it does not make a difference for him. “I am a person who never gives up. To whom loyalty means a lot. The party knows my abilities, and wherever it calls for me to be I will be there to give the service I can.”