Updated | Karol Aquilina’s pre-emptive strike angers PN’s Gozitan activists

Updated at 12.45pm with Mark Anthony Sammut comment

A pre-emptive strike on Facebook by a faction of the Nationalist Party to push Kevin Cutajar as a replacement for David Stellini has angered many in the Nationalist Party.

It was PN MP Karol Aquilina, who put forward Cutajar’s name in a Facebook post that was then shared or copied by others within the same clique, who are loyal to former leader Simon Busuttil.

Former PN deputy leader Beppe Fenech Adami said it was in the party's interest to co-opt Kevin Cutajar

As expected, Aquilina’s move did not go down well with those who support Adrian Delia, who felt it was premature to go public with a name when the co-option process had to be discussed by the party executive.

It is an open secret that the Delia camp would like to co-opt Jean Pierre Debono, who gave up his seat so that Delia could enter parliament. Debono is a Delia loyalist.

But PN sources have told MaltaToday that Aquilina’s decision also angered party representatives in Gozo, who were quietly lobbying for Cutajar as a replacement for Stellini, a fellow Gozitan.

“Since when does Karol Aquilina have Gozo in his heart? When he was president of the administrative council he did not even bother about the island,” an angry Gozitan PN activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity told MaltaToday.

There is a compelling argument to make for Stellini to be replaced by a fellow Gozitan but Aquilina’s preemptive strike has poured cold water on the quiet diplomacy the PN’s Gozo representatives were using to convince the leadership on Cutajar’s co-option.

Another Gozitan activist was more forthwith: “By going on Facebook, rather than through the internal organs, they are using Kevin to try and spite Clyde Puli and the leadership in public. Kevin should be the natural choice to replace David Stellini so that the PN can maintain a strong presence in Gozo but Karol’s move has complicated matters and created unfair pressure.”

Attempts to contact Cutajar have so far proved futile but PN sources in Gozo said he was miffed by Aquilina’s post, which provoked an unsavoury reaction.

Co-option decision is not taken on social media

Mark Anthony Sammut, president of the PN executive appealed on Facebook for MPs and executive members to act "prudently" and allow the discussion on the co-option to happen in the right forum, at the right time. "Decisions about co-options are taken by the executive committee, according to the statute and in the party's best interest, and not on social media," Sammut said.

On Facebook, former PN leadership contender, Frank Portelli, did not mince his words: “Facebook should not replace the parliamentary group or the executive.”

It was a sentiment shared by PN MEP candidate Dione Borg, who said “responsibility and loyalty” dictated that any discussion on who should replace Stellini had to happen inside the party structures, including the parliamentary group.

Some PN activists like Dione Borg have called for the co-option debate to be held within the party structures and not on Facebook

Stellini’s seat can only be filled by co-option because he was elected in a casual election when Marthese Portelli gave up her second seat.

The co-option process has opened up a new front in the battle between Delia loyalists and those, who do not see eye to eye with the leader.

The disastrous European election results has rekindled calls for Delia to step down but on Sunday at the counting hall, the PN leader said he had no intention of abandoning the party and would stay on until the next general election.

READ ALSO: Nationalist MP David Stellini resigns, paving the way for co-option of new MP