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NEWS maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 19 JUNE 2019 2 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 In a post announcing his res- ignation, Portelli said he had resigned in order to be able to speak freely, and unshackled by the responsibility of an of- ficial position. "After today's meeting, I heard and confirmed what I wrote in my letter to the lead- er, because I saw the move- ments of people who don't deserve to be in any party," Portelli told reports shortly after the meeting. He singled out former ex- ecutive committee president Mark Anthony Sammut, who resigned his post of chairman of the executive earlier this month by way of taking re- sponsibility for the PN's dis- mal showing in the MEP and local council elections. Portelli said that while he could respect Sammut's de- cision to resign, spending a whole week attacking the party through the media was "childish" and was only serv- ing to hurt the PN by worsen- ing its financial position. He accused those calling for PN leader Adrian Delia's res- ignation of wanting to create a leadership vacuum, without knowing "what they want" or who they would like to replace him. The party, he insisted, could not afford another lead- ership race. He stressed that he could not accept seeing people seated next to him on the same ex- ecutive committee, texting during the meeting and telling the world about what was be- ing said. The PN, he said, had been overcome by a "small group of people who are no longer able to reason the second certain subjects raised". A number of MPs, including former leader Simon Busut- til and MEP David Casa, were reported to have been angered by Portelli discussing the late Daphne Caruana Galizia dur- ing yesterday's meeting. Por- telli is reported to have ac- cused Busuttil of dragging the PN down with Caruana Gali- zia and that if it weren't for him latching on to her stories, the party would not be in its present state. "Certain people can't hear particular things because they lose all form of reason," he said. Turning to the PN's par- liamentary group, Portelli said it was divided into three groups: those who support Delia, those who will not sup- port him at all costs, and "the largest group that places the party above everything else". This group, he said, had so far not been convinced that there should be a vote of no confi- dence in Delia. Jason Azzopardi must control himself on social media Portelli also pointed to MP Jason Azzopardi, describing him as an example of what the PN shouldn't be. He accsued the outspoken MP of regularly shooting from the hip, and of posting indiscriminately on social media. "It's not only him to be fair. There are other people, in- cluding some who support Adrian Delia, who sometimes shoot from the hip too much," Portelli said, adding that the country had not yet "mastered social media". "Everyone is a journalist and everyone can upload whatever they want. I don't think an MP should be able to just shoot from the hip like that. If you want to do so, and even in that case you must be careful, at least do what I did, don't re- main in your position and you will be free to say whatever you want." He said the party couldn't have a situation where an MP like Azzopardi – the PN's spokesperson for the environ- ment - was "obsessed" with a different sector. Azzopardi, a lawyer by pro- fession, was made the PN's environment spokesperson in a reshuffle undertaken by PN leader Adrian Delia back in April of last year. Delia ap- pointed himself as the party's spokesperson on Azzopardi's previous portfolio for justice, despite Azzopardi having in recent years taken the lead in drafting legisla- tion and legal challenges to government deci- sions, on behalf of the PN. Portelli stressed that he did not want to take any- thing away from "the validity and exceptional legal mind" Azzopardi has. "What I would like is for him to control him- self on social media." "At certain points, he was close to Adrian Delia. Go and see the cases [Delia] filed in court. He always found [Azzo- pardi's] support, he was next to him outside of court, nod- ding his head. Then some- thing happens, and goes off and shoots from the hip. Karol Aquilina has no shame As the day progressed, the newly-unshackled Portelli also took aim at MP Karol Aq- uilina, who he called out for accompany blogger Manuel Delia in court in case against NET TV, his own party's tel- evision station. "This morning in court, the case filed by Manuel Delia (Ex Arriva) against Net Television continued. With Manuel De- lia in the court room was the 'Nationalist' MP Karol Aquili- na #noshame," Portelli wrote. Aquilina is one of several MPs who want PN leader Adrian Delia out. The Siġġiewi lawyer is the PN's spokesperson for re- forms and citizenship. Nobody has a divine right to lead the party Veteran PN MP Mario Galea also spoke out against dissenting MPs, who he accused of a "sys- tematic and organised" cam- paign by fellow MPs against the party leader. "This isn't something happen- ing by coincidence or in the heat of the moment, this is a system- atic and organised campaign of a group of a few MPs who think they have a divine right to lead the party," the Zejtun MP said. He insisted that Delia had been elected through a demo- cratic process by party mem- bers and should therefore be given a chance to work…nobody change a party in a year and a half," Galea said, adding that he still supported his party leader. Delia is facing yet another mu- tiny, with a considerable num- ber of MPs reported to have asked him to go, however he has so far insisted that he will take the PN to the next general elec- tion. Some PN MPs leading 'systematic and organised campaign' against Delia - Mario Galea Pierre Portelli described PN MP Jason Azzopardi (pictured) as an example of "what the PN shouldn't be" "Everyone is a journalist and everyone can upload whatever they want. I don't think an MP should be able to just shoot from the hip like that" PN MP Mario Galea NATIONALIST Party sup- porters gathered outside the party headquarters last night as the parliamentary group held a crucial meeting that was expected to discuss the future of leader Adrian De- lia. The PN leader was asked to leave by a number of MPs during a heated parliamenta- ry group meeting last week. Delia has so far given no in- dication that he will resign. The people applauded De- lia and other MPs deemed loyal to him as they entered the building. MPs Kristy Debono, Carm Mifsud Bon- nici, Stephen Spiteri and Mario Galea were all ap- plauded. Silence accompanied the entry of former leader Simon Busuttil and MPs Jason Azz- opardi and Karol Aquilina. On his way in, Delia did not want to comment on what former PN media chief Pierre Portelli said in his resignation letter that some PN MPs had associ- ated themselves with crimi- nal acts to undermine the leader. Delia insisted that he would only speak about Portelli's resignation after first ad- dressing the parliamentary group. The meeting was still un- derway by the time we went to print. Parliamentary group meets