Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1208901
5 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 9 FEBRUARY 2020 NEWS KARL AZZOPARDI NATIONALIST Party leader Adrian Delia has been urged to skip a Mellieha Sunday speech he will deliver today. The unprecedented request comes from the party's regional committee in Mellieha, which said in a letter to Delia that giv- en the PN's current turmoil, it would be wrong for the leader to act as if it was "business as usu- al". The Opposition leader is scheduled to speak at the par- ty's Mellieha club as part of the routine Sunday speeches held by political leaders. In comments to the media, a source on the committee said that considering the situation the party finds itself in, the com- mittee feels that this is not the time "to be standing up at a po- dium and criticising the Labour government." The decision to inform De- lia on how the committee feels about him addressing members on Sunday was taken unani- mously. The committee also said it feared that given the recent revelations surround- ing the party, tensions might rise. "What if he goes on about the inter- nal divide we have at the moment and someone says something and the whole thing gets out of hand? What we need now is mature internal discussion, not a Sun- day sermon," the Times reported a source as saying yes- terday. Despite the committee's calls for the speech to be scrapped, Adrian Delia's Facebook page uploaded a poster notifying fol- lowers about the event. The Opposition leader continues to face mount- ing pressure to resign, with members from the parliamenta- ry group speaking publicly about his exit. Yesterday in an interview on the party's radio station NET FM, Delia made an all-out attack on what he claims is his party's mentality and entitle- ment to be in govern- ment without any concrete show of humility or policy-making, a dig at his own internal critics. "The party's pretentions of being in government, where we think it is our right to be in govern- ment, has to change," Delia said. "We spent 25 years in govern- ment, and that may have affect- ed the way we approach politics. We have to make ourselves a credible and strong Opposition, then we can make the PN an al- ternative government." Delia has been faced with mul- tiple resignations from deputy leader Robert Arrigo, secretary general Clyde Puli and president of the general council Kristy Debono. Delia invited listeners to prop- erly assess the reasons for their resignations, adding that he was yet to take a decision. "I might ask them to reconsider their de- cision." "Whoever the leader is, be it me or someone else, if he doesn't lead a unified party no success will be achieved, and no won- der the survey results are as they are," he said. The PN leader also vowed to meet the different committees and sections of the party in the coming weeks. "They will all be offered the opportunity to ex- press how they feel." He hit back at accusations of him gripping onto the party leadership over alleged personal financial issues. "The allegations are plain lies. I made much more money from private practice than my parliamentary salary, and I never shied away from re- sponding on my personal finan- cial state," he insisted. Delia persona non grata at PN's Mellieha club