Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1536441
7 ANALYSIS maltatoday | SUNDAY • 15 JUNE 2025 leaders, two defeats and an abortion lia, an outsider who was not even an MP and who benefitted from the backlash against Busuttil's association with Daph- ne Caruana Galizia. Delia appealed to the party's conservative roots by raising the spectre of 'religio et patria' in his first ma- jor speech after his election. The contest: Despite concerted attempts to remove him from the race following a due dili- gence report which raised various con- cerns on offshore activity reported by Caruana Galizia, Delia still emerged as the frontrunner in a vote among councillors in which he secured 45.7% against Chris Said's 31.5%, Alex Perici Calascione's 22% and Frank Portelli's 0.8%. He went on to secure a 52.7% majority among party members in the party's first-ever primary against Chris Said. The outcome: Legitimised by the popular vote, Delia felt confident enough to reshape the par- ty in a more conservative direction, trig- gering a revolt by more liberal voices on issues ranging from leave for prospective parents undergoing IVF treatment to the ratification of the Istanbul Convention. Ultimately, however, it was the assassina- tion of Caruana Galizia that derailed his leadership. As one of her journalistic tar- gets, Delia found it increasingly difficult to lead the party in a highly charged political atmosphere that brought groups like Re- pubblika to the fore. His decision to side-line Busuttil after the publication of the Egrant Inquiry—which found no evidence of alleged cash transfers from the Azerbaijani ruling family to the Muscats—triggered further internal strife, which regained momentum after Delia's failure to make any inroads in the 2019 MEP elections. During that campaign the party adopted as its main issues anti-abor- tion and anti-immigration stands. Subsequently, the PN was once again outflanked by civil society in protests that contributed to the fall of the Muscat government in December 2019. The final blow for Delia came in the form of a series of polls showing a widening trust gap be- tween him and new Labour leader Robert Abela, just before and during the pandem- ic. The legacy and the lessons: Adrian Delia was the only PN leader in post-independence history to be denied the possibility of having his leadership tested in a national election. His prema- ture dismissal in 2020 left many of his supporters disillusioned, and this partly explains the PN's loss of 12,463 votes com- pared to its 2017 tally. In this context, De- lia's backers felt their champion was never truly given a fair chance, with his short- lived leadership undermined by persistent internal opposition. His forced departure also cemented the perception of a ruthless PN establishment that is unforgiving with one of their own—let alone political adver- saries. The incoming leader, Bernard Grech understood this and proceeded to inte- grate his predecessor in the frontbench, particularly after Delia was vindicated by the court decision to revoke the Vitals hospitals contract. By fronting the legal case against Vitals, Delia had also dispelled claims—rampant before 2020—that he was Labour's Trojan horse. Like him or hate him, Delia remains a major player in the PN, and any new leader has to contend with his loyal base of sup- porters. In this sense, Metsola's openness to a second Delia term in an unconven- tional arrangement which would see her take on a symbolic role is a recognition of this reality—even if it could be seen as a throwback among the wider electorate. Bernard Grech found himself elected leader on the merits of his reputation as an effective TV debater who could defeat Adrian Delia, while sharing a number of his qualities. Grech, like Delia, was an out- sider and someone who could communi- cate with voters turned off by the party's perceived elitism. In this sense, Grech's candidature was not just triggered by De- lia's failing numbers, but also shaped by polls showing him as the only palatable alternative at the time. The contest: Grech easily won the contest held among party members in October 2020, securing 69.3% of the vote against Delia's 30.7%. The scale of his victory suggested a strong popular mandate, but underestimated the bitterness felt by Delia supporters, who remained distrustful of the new leader— even if Delia immediately signalled his willingness to work with him. The outcome: Grech initially saw a boost in trust polls pitting him against Abela. On the surface, he also seemed to have pacified the party. But Delia initially kept a distance, while Grech struggled to gain momentum or a defining issue on which to confront Abela. After less than two years as leader, the PN found itself trounced in a paradoxical gen- eral election in which Labour won by 39,474 votes—despite losing 8,269 votes from its 2017 tally. The reason was that the PN had lost 12,463 votes. Grech put on a brave face in defeat—unlike Simon Busuttil—visiting the counting hall and comforting party ac- tivists. But his refusal to step down despite losing a general election further perpetuat- ed the perception that he was a lame duck. He also set a modest and achievable target: electing three Nationalist MEPs in the sub- sequent European election held in 2024. Nonetheless, Grech did manage to ener- gise the party base in the wake of the Vitals court decision, using it as an opportunity to reach out to Delia and ensure party unity, gaining momentum for the MEP elections which saw the party gaining ground by default, thanks to a higher abstention and protest vote in the PL. But despite cutting the vote gap to 8,000 votes, Grech remained an unpopular leader—eclipsed by Roberta Metsola's profile as President of the Euro- pean Parliament. This also increased the perception that Grech was simply keeping the seat warm for Metsola. This state of in- decision, coupled with Grech's caution not to rock the boat, paralysed his leadership, leading to the current impasse. Legacy and lessons: Grech restored internal peace between the PN factions and can be credited with bringing an end to the party's internal civil war. However, the PN remains in debt and financially vulnerable, which helps explain his hesitancy in confronting potential par- ty donors among developers—leaving him unable to give voice to public anger on one of the few issues where Labour remains deeply unpopular. His stance on Manoel Island exempli- fied this state of paralysis. The lesson for the PN is that it can't afford to have a lame duck leader left in the shadow of a party queen who remains hesitant to descend from the EU stars to the Pietà stables. Yet this paralysis may well trigger an insurgen- cy, risking the same divisions that charac- terised the stormy Delia era. In short, by trying to force Metsola's hand, Grech may well leave the party stuck between a rock and a hard place. BERNARD THE PACIFIER