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maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 26 JUNE 2019 3 NEWS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 The petition collected more than the required 150 signatures. It calls for a general council to be convened in a week's time and vote on the question as to wheth- er Adrian Delia should shoulder responsibility for the European and local elections defeat and resign. Bartolo said the 200 signatures were collected in two days and was sure that more could have been collected if the initiative kept going. The initiative contemplated by the PN statute is a first of its kind. Bartolo had publicly declared he was pulling out of politics last year, a decision, he now said that did not preclude him from tak- ing this initiative as a concerned citizen. Bartolo said the current situa- tion risked leading to a situation where the PN will be obliterated and this would be a blow to de- mocracy. "This party needs to start a new page, with a new leader," Bartolo said, adding nobody in the coun- try wanted an Opposition in tat- ters. MATTHEW VELLA PAID-UP members of the Nationalist Party are collect- ing signatures asking the PN's president of the General Coun- cil to bring MPs in line and to express full confidence in lead- er Adrian Delia. The letter to Kristy Debono comes in the wake of a petition by 150 councillors of the PN's General Council, requesting a secret ballot on whether Delia should stand down in the wake of disastrous European and lo- cal election results. The members will ask Debono to deny the request for an ex- traordinary General Council for the confidence vote, saying it is only the General Conven- tion that can elect the party leadership. The members also deflect responsibility for the election drubbing from Delia to a collec- tive burden: "there is no doubt that a divided party cannot win an election. It is no secret that since taking his oath, Delia was prevented from working se- renely by those who have done all they can to stop him being leader. The less than ethical behaviour of certain MPs and officials has not helped the situ- ation." The members' letter also at- tacks "pseudo-bloggers and pseudo-NGOs" – ostensibly a reference to the Nationalist- leaning Repubblika NGO and spokesperson Manuel Delia – as "a main factor" in the elec- tion drubbing. "The same people who were the reason for the 2013 elec- tion loss and which the paid-up members refuted in 2017 are the hidden hand behind this political manoeuvring. They who the pulled the strings then, are still at it today and want to take control of the party. We cannot keep protecting the sta- tus quo." The members, who express their full trust in Adrian Delia, also call on Debono to kick- start the process for the neces- sary changes can make the PN a "winning party", welcome back former members alien- ated from the party, as well as to steps to "prevent MPs and officials clearly showing they will not work collectively, from damaging the party; and that the process starts to bring back those who were alienated from the party by the actions and at- titude of those who want to re- tain control of the party." MaltaToday understands that the letter is being distributed all over the island in a bid to shore up support for Adrian Delia, and states that the party leader cannot be 'deposed' by a vote in the General Council. While Debono has said she has not yet officially received the petition calling for the se- cret vote to take place in a Gen- eral Council, the same organ is statutorily unable to determine issues of the PN's leadership. The letter claims that al- though the General Council is the PN's highest decision- making organ, it is the General Convention that elects the par- ty leadership. Adrian Delia was elected by the majority of the PN's paid- up members, in the first elec- tion of its type, that was created by predecessor Simon Busuttil. In 2012, prime minister Law- rence Gonzi put his leadership to a vote inside the General Council in a bid to ascertain his leadership in the wake of a re- bellion by MP Franco Debono. PN members collect signatures to stop confidence vote PN leadership Adrian Delia: paid-up members want to show full trust in PN leader KURT SANSONE ADRIAN Delia's political future now rests with the general council where he is expected to face a vote of confidence. The Nationalist Party's general council is composed of 1,365 councillors elected from the various party branch- es and all MPs. The general council has no power to remove a party leader, so any decision taken on the strength of the petition presented by 200 councillors will be a political statement. Gauging Delia's level of support within the general council is not easy but looking back at the 2017 leadership race could provide an in- dication. Although the general council does not have the power to elect a leader, it is entrusted to whittle down the number of contenders to two. A final decision is then taken by all members. This power was exercised in the 2017 lead- ership race when four contenders had to first pass the general council test. Delia had emerged top with 616 votes, followed by Chris Said with 425 votes and Alex Perici Calascione with 296 votes. Frank Portelli received 11 votes. Based on the valid votes cast (1,348), Delia had received the back- ing of 45.7% of PN councillors, followed by Said with 31.5% and Perici Calascione with 22%. While these results from two years ago can be indicative of the strength Delia has among councillors, the circumstances the leader finds himself in today are totally different. Some councillors may have changed during the period, Delia may have lost support but more importantly, it has to be seen whether those who backed other candidates will fall be- hind the leader in a vote of confidence. The outcome could turn out to be a messy numbers game for Delia and the PN. The general council numbers game Council president Kristy Debono has to convene the general council within a week of a petition being presented Former PN candidate fronts first-of-a-kind petition Ivan Bartolodeclared last year he was pulling out of politics

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