Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1122784
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Stellini said he had informed Opposition leader Adrian Delia and the Speaker of the House in writing of his resig- nation. Stellini was elected to Parlia- ment for the first time in the casual election on the 13th district for the seat vacated by Nationalist MP Marthese Portelli, who was elected on two districts. Given that Stellini was elect- ed by a casual election, his resignation from the House will prompt a co-option, al- lowing the PN to select any person to be installed as an MP. His decision has already sparked approaches from both factions within the PN to only leave when the time is ripe for the co-option of their choice. One faction which is loosely led by Beppe Fenech Adami and former PN leader Simon Busuttil, have suggested that he leaves when Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola might be in a position to return to Malta – ostensibly, Metsola is touted as an alternative to the PN's beleaguered party chief Adrian Delia. On the other side of the PN political spectrum, the Delia faction wants Stellini to leave at a more appropriate time to al- low them to co-opt Jean Pierre Debono, who was also elected to the House for the first time in 2017, but relinquished his parliamentary seat to force a casual election – filled by an MP who resigned imme- diately – so that Adrian Delia could enter the House as Opposition leader. Debono is the hus- band of MP Kristy Debono and is em- ployed in the PN ad- ministration, and nat- urally a staunch ally of Adrian Delia. Stellini however said he will not be resigning his post as president on the PN's ad- ministrative council, saying he will await the outcome of the forthcoming local council elections, which are set to de- liver yet another blow to PN leader Adrian Delia. "I will continue occupying this position in the future. So I will continue contributing to the PN. "If activists wish that I re- sign from the PN admin- istrative council, then I should follow suit... I think it is premature at this point, but we are days away from another elec- toral result. "I think a lot of people in 2017 said that Simon Busut- til had left the party leader- ship too hastily. So it is pos- sible that such an immediate change is not always the best solution," he said with respect to calls for Delia's resigna- tion. "That is why the party has to analyse the electoral result." Stellini also said the PN will have to en- dure yet more shifts in factional loyalties, as activists attempt to shore up support for Delia, or push for a new leader who can bridge the internal di- vide. "Factionalism inside the PN has always been part of its history. After this election, factional loyalties will be shifting once again. It is possible that the majority of PN activists who are pleased at Roberta Metsola's and Da- vid Casa's election in the Eu- ropean Parliament, but also at retaining Adrian Delia as PN leader, because they see a bal- ance between both factions." Stelllini said however that the PN has to analyse the re- sult and that political respon- sibility had to be shouldered. "Humility in politics demands this. These two electoral re- sults have to be compared with previous results, not with survey forecasts." Jean Pierre Debono and Roberta Metsola are reportedly being pushed by their own factions to take David Stellini's seat in Parliament maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 29 MAY 2019 3 NEWS 'I don't like Maltese partisanship'