Adrian Delia to contest Birkirkara district with PN in next general election

Adrian Delia will be a candidate for the Nationalist Party on the 8th District in the next general election, the former PN leader said on Xarabank.

Delia did not exclude running on a second district as well but would leave it up to the party structures to decide which.

He was being interviewed by Peppi Azzopardi on an online edition of Xarabank broadcast on Lovin Malta this morning.

The 8th District includes Delia’s hometown Birkirkara, where he served for a number of years as the town’s football club president.

“I will be concentrating on the district and any other job the new leader may want to assign me,” Delia said.

The 8th District is also home to PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami, who was part of the anti-Delia faction in the party.

Delia never contested a general election and made it to parliament in 2017 through co-option after being elected leader of the PN.

He was beaten by relative newcomer Bernard Grech in the party leadership race on 3 October. Delia remains a PN MP.

Grech has also never contested a general election and was co-opted to parliament yesterday after the resignation of Ivan J. Bartolo.

Asked whether he had any regrets throughout his three-year leadership, Delia said there were times when he stopped being himself and relied too much on the advice being given to him. Asked what advice he would give Grech, the former PN leader said that he told him to be himself. "I told him to be Bernard Grech and not what others want him to be," he said.