Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1536441
Metsola's PN leadership snub is bitter pill to swallow ONE TEAM BUILT TO BACK EACH OTHER FOR THE LONG RUN, NOT JUST THE NEXT DEAL Not a franchise JAMES DEBONO jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt YOUR RIGHT TO KNOW WWW.MALTATODAY.COM.MT SUNDAY 15 JUNE 2025 • ISSUE 1336 • PUBLISHED EVERY WEDNESDAY AND SUNDAY Assisted euthanasia maltatoday Leadership A look back at the PN's last three leadership contests PAGES 6 - 7 Pollution No fines for restaurant after St Thomas Bay contamination PAGE 8 €2.20 Support for voluntary euthanasia at 49.1% THE Nationalist Party was left with a bitter pill to swallow on Saturday when Roberta Metsola definitively ruled out contesting for party leader. After four days of radio silence, Met- sola announced that she cannot aban- don her role as president of the Euro- pean parliament and any solution for the PN will have to be "without her as leader". For many PN MPs, activists and in- siders, Metsola's declaration resembled a kick below the belt. They were still hoping of convincing her to step up and take the party's reins into her hands fol- lowing Bernard Grech's resignation. Evidently, the pressure that had been mounting from all quarters was not enough to convince Metsola to leave Brussels and move to Pietà. In her statement on Saturday, Metsola said her role as president of the Europe- an parliament carries with it "global re- sponsibilities" for the EU and Malta and this required her undivided attention. "With a sense of responsibility, this is a role I cannot abandon," she said, ruling herself out of a PN leadership bid. It was a crushing blow to the aspira- tions of many within the party. There was broad consensus among PN MPs that Metsola should be leader but they were also adamant that this had to be her full-time job. PAGE 3 FULL RESULTS PAGES 9 - 10 OPINIONS EDWARD ZAMMIT LEWIS AND MARK SAID PAGE 11 mt survey INTERVIEW MT2 Humani Humanists Malta sts Malta Chairperson James Chairperson James Buhagiar on Buhagiar on the he church's possible role church's possible role OVERALL support for voluntary euthanasia stands at 49.1%, while a fifth of voters are undecided, ac- cording to a MaltaToday survey. The survey asked people whether they agreed with the proposal put forward for consultation by the government—voluntary assisted euthanasia should be made available to terminally ill adult patients, who have been given six months to live by doctors. The results show that support for the proposal is just shy of an absolute majority, while 29.1% of vot- ers are against. A further 21.8% are undecided. Support for euthanasia is strongest among un- der-35s, while a relative majority of pensioners are against. A breakdown of figures by political allegiance shows that just over 50% of PN voters are against euthanasia, while 62% of PL voters are in favour of the reform. KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt