Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1068299
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 JANUARY 2019 JAMES DEBONO THE latest MaltaToday polls have shown Adrian Delia gaining some traction among PN voters without in any way reducing the gap with Labour. But the year also ended with the PN leader facing more internal unrest after details of his marital separation proceedings were leaked on the social media. The invasion of Delia's privacy and family life right in the middle of the Christmas festivities may have at- tracted a degree of sympathy for the PN leader. For the exploitation of fam- ily difficulties by internal critics who had never accepted him as their leader since the day he was elected by party members, was akin to vultures circling over an injured target. But the tide turned against the PN leader the moment allegations of do- mestic violence started making the rounds. Such a serious allegation can- not be easily dismissed as a private matter. Moreover, the vulnerability of Delia to accusations coming from his own family reinforces the view that Delia's position as PN leader is no longer tenable. Yet with Delia refusing to resign out of his own free will and in the absence of a leadership challenge which would see his rivals coming out in the open, the party seems resigned to face the mid-terms led by a lame duck. Mission impossible? Even before the latest revelation on Adrian Delia's family life, the odds were already stacked against the PN leader. Delia will face the inevitable comparison with 2014 when both par- ties won three seats each, but which Labour won by a 33,677 vote margin: the sixth seat was in fact close to being won by Labour, but it was retained by the PN after the last eliminated can- didate's second-preference votes were inherited by the PN, after a nail-biting contest with only 206 votes separating Therese Comodini Cachia and Clint Camilleri. Also at stake is the party's ability to hold onto majorities in key marginal localities like St Paul's Bay, Mosta and Siggiewi or to make inroads in marginal seats held by 'Labour-lite' Birkirkara. Delia knows his internal opponents may well be banking on his failure in these elections. So far he has refused to set any targets for next May's MEP and local elections, by this way not binding himself to resign if he fails to achieve a positive result for his party. When asked whether he has any tar- gets for these elections in an interview with MaltaToday in September he minimised the political value of these elections describing them as "a train- ing ground" and limiting his aim to attracting "people to contest with the PN, which will show people that the party is changing." In an interview with Lovin Malta in June, PN leader Adrian Delia insisted that he won't resign after next year's MEP elections even if he loses by 100,000 votes. "We can lose the MEP election by 90,000 votes or we can lose it by 100,000 votes, we can win all the battleground local councils or we can lose them all, but I won't even con- sider resigning. Politics isn't a game," Delia told his interviewer. It was a clear message to those with- in the party who have not accepted him as party leader and who still hope that the party will replace him if he is thrashed by Muscat in next May's election. The risk for Delia is that PN vot- ers who want him replaced by a new leader could be encouraged to abstain if Delia puts his leadership on the line in these elections. On the other hand, these voters may well be brought in line by the fear of Muscat extending his lead in a way which may well ex- tinguish any hope for a PN recovery. Keeping the party united Delia can bank on one major advan- tage in these elections: voters will not be directly voting for him but for a va- riety of candidates, some of which are perceived to be close to the Busuttil faction while others are closer to De- lia's 'new way'. To keep this advantage Delia will need to keep his party unit- Will Delia survive in 2019? Polls show little sign of progress for Adrian Delia, whose family life is in turmoil and spilling onto the news pages… 2018 was not a good year for the PN leader, so will he survive this year's European elections? In the scenario of the party losing ground over its already bad performance in 2014, Delia would be even more vulnerable to a leadership challenge if he persists on staying on Adrian Delia being sworn in as leader of the opposition NEWS In 2019 • Adrian's woes...