Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/869387
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 3 SEPTEMBER 2017 4 News MATTHEW VELLA HE strode onto the stage, made the sign of the cross, blew a kiss to the side of the stage, his hands behind his back in business-like fashion. Chants of 'Delia, Delia' from his well-wishers, off-camera, at last Fri- day evening's last rally set the tone for newcomer Adrian Delia's last event in his campaign run. He then intonated his trademark rabble-rousing growl, and took the volume up to 11. Never before has a candidate for the party leadership sounded so distant from the party itself and its traditional pretenders, usually MPs. In the last weeks, revelations of Delia's legal ser- vices to Maltese businessmen in the Soho property game led to a party ethics' inquiry. The PN's administra- tive council then asked him to re- consider his candidature. He refused to back out of the race and doubled down. "Thank you for those Nationalists of the 1970s and 1980s, who were the heroes who fought for our country, for liberty…" Delia roared at well- wishers. "Thank you to those who know what the PN stands for, not the party we're seeing today, but the party of 140 years of history." More thanks followed, and even in giving thanks to his parents – "the ones who instilled in me these values, who made me who I am" – Delia's gruff tone was incessant. He looked at his brother. "They called him 'another thug…'," a refer- ence to the image of Delia hanging outside the PN headquarters with supporters who included the cadre of regular heavies that usually lend some muscle to parties. "He's my brother! He's no criminal, no thief! He's our blood! He's Mal- tese!" Delia rumbled on. And then he cried. He walked off stage. The mic went into a feedback loop. He got back on stage, stifled the tears, and started speaking again. "Many of you here have been ready to die for these principles. Please eve- ryone: we are at a crossroads in this party, where the fundamental princi- ples I was ready to die for at 16, are being threatened within our own par- ty! This is no joke! No argument! This is our sorrow! Our hearts are crying!" Again he turned the volume up to 11. This time the applause was muted. "They are threatening to kick people out of the party for supporting me, for having a photo taken with me. They are threatening him with their jobs. They are getting vindictive transfers [on government jobs] and our party is silent. And Eddie Fenech Adami warned us that whoever stayed silent was an accomplice!" Then he hit out at some MPs. "There are those who told [others] to form their own party," a reference to a Facebook comment by National- ist MP Jason Azzopardi, whom he also gave mention to in the last final lead- ership debate, as being particularly unwelcome to his candidature. "This is not the PN as we know it. It is not the party we recognise. It is not Borg Olivier's, Fenech Adami's party," he said, refusing to mention Lawrence Gonzi or Simon Busuttil. "It isn't the party of those who have never asked anything in return, those of us who fought for democracy… it's not your party!" Delia told the 'estab- lishment' he claims to rail against. "It is the councillors' and the members' party. Give us our party back!" mvella@mediatoday.com.mt He growls, he roars, he hits out at the PN's top brass PAUL COCKS THE hard-fought election campaign for the PN leader- ship may have seemed overly antagonistic and wrought with a heavy dose of infighting for the casual observer. But to someone who expe- rienced previous elections at close quarters, the allega- tions, counter claims and fiery speeches are all part of the process and always have been. Former Nationalist MP and minister Tonio Fenech told MaltaToday that this is not the first leadership election that has been hard-fought and in which candidates went all out to convince councillors and members to back them. "Candidates will do, and have always done, whatever is necessary to get their message across," he said. "But perhaps never before has the battle be- tween the candidates and their supporters been so much in the public eye." He said that social media had provided candidates – and even more so, their support- ers – with a reliable platform for them to vent their anger at their opponents and their frustration at the administra- tion. "Many took to social media not only to support their fa- vourite candidate but also to attack other candidates and their supporters." As to allegations raised against Adrian Delia, one of the candidates, Fenech said that it was only appropriate that the party investigate the claims. Delia was found to have opened a bank account in his name at Barclays Inter- national in Jersey, which – it was claimed – was used for the transfer of money derived from prostitution in Soho, London. "The PN did good to appoint an ad hoc Ethics Committee to investigate the claims, and that it appointed a number of respectable individuals to the committee," Fenech said. 'MPs will always around new leader' Lands Authority St. Sebastian Street, Valletta The Lands Authority is issuing an EOI for the provision of professional services by 'Periti' on a contract of service basis. More details and relevant documents can be obtained from: www.landsauthority.org.mt/services/procurement/ C M Y CM MY CY CMY K Lands Ad2.pdf 1 29/08/2017 13:40 PN LEADERSHIP ELECTIONS There, there... a sobbing Adrian Delia hugs his sister-in-law after an emotional moment during a fiery display of rhetoric This is not the first leadership election that has been hard-fought and in which candidates went all out to convince councillors and members to back them