[WATCH] PN leader Adrian Delia reflects on disastrous result: 'We'll not lose heart'

Nationalist leader Adrian Delia says the PN is 'still the country's second largest party'...

Adrian Delia:
Adrian Delia: "The road is long, but we have to go through it, and we must do so together"

Opposition leader Adrian Delia has indicated he will not resign in the face of a humiliating defeat in the European Parliament elections.

The PN suffered a major defeat in the 2019 European elections, with unofficial vote projections putting the party at just over 36%, while Labour looking to an unprecedented 51,000 vote majority with 55.9% of the vote.

Adrian Delia has said that in the face of the major defeat the PN has suffered, he is determined to stay on as leader and will not abandon the "journey" the party has embarked on.

"We are not going to abandon the road we have taken... we must meet more people, more social partners, more institutions, and civil society. We must understand their needs and how to represent them."

Delia, in a brief address on NET TV Sunday evening, acknowledged that the results were clear, and that Labour had won the European elections with an absolute majority of votes and would obtain a fourth seat in the European Parliament.

Delia said that the PN should not lose heart even in the face of "trying times", and made an appeal to reach out for the youth vote.

He insisted that, despite the big loss, the PN remained Malta's second biggest party, and it was now important to not give up, and to continue representing the people who voted for it while increasing the effort to listen to the people's concerns.

"We know the PN has faced major challenges in the past months - I joined the PN at one of the worst points in its history," Delia said,

"There were financial difficulties - which still exist - and a large deficit of votes, which has now increased," he said.

"This means we must work harder and understand why we are still not the choice of the people."

Thousands had chosen not to vote, he said, underlining the need to inquire why these people had opted not to take part in the democratic process.

The process to revitalise the party would take more than a few months he said, and the PN had no choice but to face the difficult period before it.

He said the PN would be humble and cautious in trying to understand why voters had not chosen the party in these elections.

"The process [within the party] started and it is not one which will just have a duration of a few months. We must go through this period, and

I invite everyone who wants to embark on this journey with us to join us," he added, "The road is long, but we have to go through it, and we must do so together".