Bernard Grech will seek reelection

Former PN leader Bernard Grech says that he will seek reelection in the next general election. 

Speaking on Andrew Azzopardi’s Campus FM in his first interview since resigning last June, Grech said that he will request the party to approve his candidature for the next election.

On Saturday, Grech admitted that following the last MEP elections, he felt as if he was living in Roberta Metsola’s shadow due to talks of her possible return to Maltese politics. 

At the time, MaltaToday had reported that Grech’s resignation meant that he threw down the gauntlet to Metsola. After talks and negotiations, Metsola decided to stay in European politics, making way for the eventual leadership race between Alex Borg and Adrian Delia.

When Grech was asked whether Metsola missed her chance for a return to Maltese politics, he said that that is only up to her. 

Referencing MaltaToday’s survey published two days before his resignation, Grech stated that it had nothing to do with the resignation, and that he made the decision a few days before the survey was published.

As the interview later shifted focus on the current chief justice saga and Judge Lawrence Mintoff’s explosive letter, Grech discussed Prime Minister Robert Abela’s character, repeatedly describing him as a liar. 

He referenced Abela’s attitude in the lead-up to his u-turn on the Jean Paul Sofia public inquiry. Grech claimed that Abela tried to use Isabelle Bonnici for good PR and told her that the PN are using her in pushing for a public inquiry into the death of her son. 

The former party leader also claimed that Abela lied when he said that Grech had agreed with Joseph Azzopardi’s nomination for standard czar.

Turning to Judge Mintoff’s claims about Abela’s partisan reasons for refusing his chief justice nomination, Grech said that he has no doubt about the veracity of the judge’s claims. 

According to Grech, he had once recommended someone for an unspecified role, and Abela outright rejected the name for partisan reasons.