[WATCH] Adrian Delia insists he will lead PN into the next general election

Adrian Delia insists he will lead PN into the next election

Updated at 11:45pm with Delia comments

Adrian Delia has insisted that he will be leading the Nationalist Party into the next general election in comments after a heated parliamentary group meeting on Wednesday.

The PN leader was facing pressure to resign after polling data showed the Nationalist Party has been unable to gain ground despite the political turmoil government faced last December.

Delia’s trust rating has hit its lowest level in two years, according to a MaltaToday survey released last Sunday and the PN reversed gains made towards the end of last year.

The survey results weighed heavily on a meeting of the parliamentary group held at PN headquarters on Wednesday evening, during which the reform process led by Louis Galea had to be discussed.

Outside party headquarters after a four-hour meeting, Delia confirmed that his resignation was one of the items discussed in the meeting. "There was a discussion on everything... particularly when we discussed in a constructive way the survey results, when you see that your work is not delivering results, you have to question everything," Delia replied.

Asked point blank whether he will be leading the PN into the next general election, Delia answered with a curt, "yes".

Party sources earlier told MaltaToday that a majority of MPs asked Delia to resign "for the good of the party and the country".

The meeting was described as heated with strong messages in favour of a change in leadership. "MPs do not want to force Adrian Delia's resignation but are asking him to make the decision himself, in the best interest of the party and the country," a source said.

Earlier

MaltaToday was told that the meeting was held in a hall at the back of the building and not the usual hall at the front.

None of the MPs entering and leaving the headquarters commented when asked whether Delia should resign. The only MP to comment was Hermann Schiavone who called on all party members to shoulder their part of the responsibility for the dismal survey results.

Delia did not enter the building from the front door.

MPs were expected to discuss party reform proposals put forward by Louis Galea, who was entrusted with the process last summer, soon after Delia won a vote of confidence among PN councillors.

However, party sources have suggested that pressure has been mounting on Delia to face reality and step aside, given that under his leadership the PN has failed to make any inroads.

The MaltaToday survey showed that Delia could only muster the trust of 13.5%, as opposed to Prime Minister Robert Abela’s 62.5%.

But more worryingly, the PN leader was trusted by 34% of those who voted for his party in the last general election, just 10 points more than Abela, who has made valuable inroads among the Nationalist electorate.

The numbers do not bode well for Delia and the PN, which has failed to post gains despite the change in Labour leadership forced by the political turmoil as a result of developments in the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder case last December.

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