Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1537460
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 13 JULY 2025 FEATURE Quickfire questions: Adrian Adrian Delia and Alex Borg are in the running to become the next leader of the Nationalist Party. They ADRIAN Delia and Alex Borg are still being assessed by the Nationalist Par- ty's due diligence board before they can formally be declared candidates for the leadership contest. Nonetheless, both have already kicked off their respective campaigns to try and win the hearts and minds of party mem- bers, who will eventually decide the con- test. Delia, a former leader ousted in an un- savoury coup in 2020, is attempting a comeback on the strength of his experi- ence and what he has described as lessons learnt. On the other hand, 30-year-old Borg, who was elected to parliament for the first time in 2022 on the back of an im- pressive performance in the Gozo dis- trict, is presenting himself as the youthful alternative. So far, the PN's electoral commission has barred the prospective candidates from sitting down together and debating each other. Alternatively, MaltaToday sat them down separately for a set of similar quickfire questions in a bid to get to know where they stand on certain issues. Full interviews with Delia and Borg, in which we asked them more in-depth questions, will be published on Sunday 20 July. Meanwhile, this is what they replied to our 15 quickfire questions and a final request to give us one word to describe their leadership rival. Are you prepared to declare the source of donations you received in your campaign for the leadership? Adrian Delia (AD): Yes, and I wish everyone does the same, including when there is a Labour Party leadership election. Alex Borg (AB): No problem. To solve its debt problem, should the Nationalist Party sell the Dar Ċentrali (headquarters)? AD: No, but it can rent it out—or parts of it, to be more precise. AB: There are many measures that can be taken. That's why I'll be appointing an audit committee that will explore the best solutions for the PN. Will you commit to publishing the party's accounts in the first 100 days of being elected leader? AD: Yes. AB: Yes. As leader of the Opposition, will you be declaring meetings you have with businesses and lobby groups? AD: I have no problem in doing so. AB: No problem at all. Yes. Would you be accepting the candidature of someone who agrees with the Nationalist Party's policies, but is in favour of introducing abortion in Malta? AD: The candidature is determined by the executive, and the party's position on abortion is clear as day. The question should be whether that individual would be comfortable within the party. AB: I'm open to everyone, but of course the party statute states that we are a party in favour of life from conception till death. Should the government table its current euthanasia proposal as a bill in parliament, would you vote in favour? AD: No. AB: If the party members give me the trust to be the leader of the Nationalist Party… I believe I will be granting a free vote — a free vote for everyone — because this is a moral issue. But I repeat, let us not forget that we have a statute that state that we are in favour of life from conception to death… I know what my situation is but I don't want to influence anything. If I become Opposition leader, I want to make sure everyone's free to take a decision without me influencing that decision. Which international leader do you feel closest to? AD: There isn't much to choose from right now, but if I can go back in time, it would be William Wallace, known as Brave Heart, who kept on fighting until death for liberty. AB: Giorgia Meloni.