Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1122313
JAMES DEBONO YESTERDAY'S results clearly in- dicate that Nationalist Party leader Adrian Delia has lost a battle on two fronts: failing to mobilise the Nation- alist vote and failing to make any in- roads in Labour's vote base. It largely suggests that Labour has retained its level of support while widening the margin over both 2014 and 2017 lev- els. The results suggest that this may be partly due to a segment of PN voters which failed to turn up or voted for third parties. But it also indicates that Delia has failed to narrow the gap. While the result does not suggest Labour making any substantial in- roads in the PN's vote, if confirmed, the PN drops to 37% is its worst elec- toral result in post-independence his- tory. In the face of such an electoral de- feat, Delia faces a choice between honouring his pre-electoral pledge to stay on, digging his heels in to defend his mandate as PN leader, or to bow out gracefully and giving his mandate back to party members in the hope that they would elect a more success- ful leader. In some ways Delia is in the same position of former Tory leader David Cameron, who had promised to stay on as PM before the Brexit referen- dum but resigned as soon as results were out. But while Cameron may not have anticipated the upset, mak- ing his promise in the firm belief that Brexit was likely, Delia's promise to stay on was made in the full knowl- edge of polls predicting his defeat. If he stays on, Delia would be do- ing the same as Simon Busuttil before him, who proceeded to consolidate his leadership after the 2014 defeat only to be crushed in elections three years down the line. The only difference is that Busuttil faced an election just a year after be- ing elected party leader during Mus- cat's honeymoon period; Delia not only had more time to prepare but he is facing Muscat right in the middle of his second legislature. Yet despite this, Delia lost with an even bigger margin than Busuttil. Still, Delia faced one significant handicap which his predecessor did not have. While the party, including its establishment, was united behind Busuttil in 2014, this was not the case with Delia. For strategic reasons, Delia had no choice in insisting that he would not resign in the face of defeat. For this would have been a clear invitation to PN voters who distrust him to vote him out by abstaining. Had Delia not taken this stance the party's defeat may be even bigger than that of today. But now he has a choice on whether to burden the par- ty further with his failure. Adrian Delia had repeatedly stated that he would stay on irrespective of the scale of defeat. He made this very clear in last Thursday's rally when he made it clear that that whatever the people's verdict was, he and his party were committed to work harder, and to visit people who they did not yet have the occasion to meet. In an interview in June 2018, Adrian Delia insisted that he won't resign af- ter 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 consider resigning. Politics isn't a game," Delia told his interviewer. He was sending a clear message to those within the party who have not accepted him as party leader and who still hoped that the party will replace him if he is thrashed by Muscat in this round of elections. This strategy was dictated by the fact that the party was fighting the elec- tions on two fronts: one pitting the PN against the incumbent govern- ment, and one pitting Delia against rebels in his party. It also came in the wake of two internal rebellions: one taking place after the Egrant inquiry which resulted in Delia backtracking on kicking Busuttil out of his parlia- mentary group, and a post-Christ- mas rebellion which saw Delia calling the bluff of those asking for his head amidst revelations about his personal life. Yet his enemies may well have been playing a waiting game, only to emerge again with their daggers drawn out against him after today's abysmal result. The two-front battle also condi- tioned Delia's campaign. On one hand he had to carry on the anti-corruption battle to keep the Busuttil faction on board, sometimes resorting to drastic claims that Malta was becoming a dic- tatorship. On the other he also sought out new battle-cries aimed at a more conservative constituency, namely on abortion and foreign workers. Yet this strategy may have further diso- riented the PN by further alienating its socially-liberal wing. Admittedly the PN is still grappling with its own post-EU member- ship identity cri- 10 maltatoday | MONDAY • 27 MAY 2019 EUROPE 20219 Exit, stage left for Delia? Ironically the leader who promised to leave after these elections has soundly beaten the leader who promised to stay on irrespective of the result If he stays on, Delia would be doing the same as Simon Busuttil before him, who proceeded to consolidate his leadership after the 2014 defeat only to be crushed in elections three years down the line