PN MP Stephen Spiteri says he wants no part in coup to oust Adrian Delia

Nationalist Party MP Stephen Spiteri has distanced himself from the ‘Blue Heroes’ tag that associated him with the party’s rebellious faction.

Spiteri said that he had voiced his concerns internally and these must have been misinterpreted as being against party leader Adrian Delia.

“I abide by the party’s line, and that whilst I expressed my concerns, I do not want to be part of a group, which did a coup d’état against the leader, that is not the way forward,” Spiteri was quoted telling The Malta Independent on Tuesday afternoon.

Spiteri’s face was included in a collage of 15 MPs and two PN MEPs uploaded on Facebook by Jason Azzopardi. The collage under the tag line 17 Blue Heroes, exposed, for the first time, the names of those MPs who want Delia to step down from leader.

Last week, in an unsigned statement, members of the parliamentary group had called for Delia’s resignation. The statement said that Delia was told in no uncertain terms by 17 members of the parliamentary group to step down from role as leader given the party's inability to make inroads despite the political crisis that rocked government in December.

But now, Spiteri’s decision to distance himself from the rebels is creating more confusion to an already tenuous situation within the PN.

READ ALSO: Rebels have destroyed PN to oust Delia, Arrigo says in resignation letter

Delia has refused to leave, insisting that he enjoyed the support of the party's members and challenged the rebels to toe the line or step aside.