Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1282292
6 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 26 AUGUST 2020 NEWS ANALYSIS Bernard Grech will only be accepted as the legitimate leader of the Nationalist Party if he beats Adrian Delia fair and square in a contest among party members. But if Delia passes the due diligence test and is accepted as a candidate fit to lead the party, this clean bill of health may well turn out to be the incumbent's trump card in his bid to retain his post JAMES DEBONO OVER the past week Bernard Grech's candidature has gained traction, with the outsider be- ing seen by the rank and file as the candidate who can re-unite the Nationalist party and thus give the party a chance to close the gap at a moment when Ab- ela's Labour is in difficulty after its leader downplayed a second wave of COVID-19. A MaltaToday survey had found that Bernard Grech en- joyed the highest trust level among PN members not just pipping embattled leader Adri- an Delia but also other poten- tial rivals like Roberta Metso- la. The rebels had settled on Grech as the candidate best placed to beat Delia in an open contest. The risk of a one-horse race But the party's new statute imposes a due diligence pro- cess which while posing a di- rect hurdle for Delia whose financial affairs have been un- der scrutiny for the past years, may turn in to a curve ball for Grech whose viability as leader depends on re-uniting it. Excluding Delia from the race would not only limit the con- test to a one horse race, but would deny members the op- portunity of choosing the new leader. For if Delia is excluded at this stage, and with one candidate left in the contest, it would be the restricted college of coun- cillors who will confirm the new leader. The members' mandate This would effectively mean that Delia whose legitima- cy stems from a vote among members in 2017 would still be in a position to claim that par- ty members never revoked his mandate. If Delia contests his exclusion from the contest, Grech would have failed in his bid to re-unite the party, even before starting leading the party. Disunity will also cripple his long-term aim of closing the gap with Labour. For the party will not be in a position to recover voters who crossed to the other side as long as it remains thorn by in- ternal divisions. In short the ideal scenario for Grech would be that of secur- ing a mandate amongst party Due diligence curve ball: Hurdle