Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/878567
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER 2017 3 News PAUL COCKS PN leader Adrian Delia's quest for a seat in Parliament has suffered a further setback, after a late-night effort on Friday to convince Gozo MP Frederick Azzopardi to give up his seat proved unsuccessful, MaltaToday has learned. Sources said members of Delia's team visited Azzopardi at home after Delia concluded a political activity at the party's Gozo head- quarters in Sannat. The meeting lasted well into the night but ended in a stalemate, as no firm decision was reached, with Azzopardi so far refusing to commit to ceding his seat in Par- liament. One of the 30 Nationalist MPs needs to resign his seat if Delia, elected party leader on Saturday night, is also to become leader of the opposition. The four MPs who were elected to Parliament in a casual election following the 3 June election – David Stellini, Ivan Bartolo, Karol Aquilina and Maria Deguara – have all stated they will not be giv- ing up their seat. Delia's chances therefore rest with the remaining 26 MPs – if one of them resigns from Parlia- ment, a casual election would be held and the general election bal- lot boxes re-opened to count that candidate's transferable votes. All PN – and Partit Demokratiku – candidates who contested the election in that district and who were not elected, would be eligible to have their name included in the casual election, if they so desire. The problem Delia's team is fac- ing is that they cannot guaran- tee that any potential candidates would refuse to contest the casual election, or that they would cede their seat in parliament if they were in fact to run and win the contested seat. Not ceding the seat would make it impossible for Delia to be co-opted. The party can only directly co- opt someone outside the candi- dates' list to a vacant seat in par- liament after a casual election is held in the district. Which is what has Delia's team running around in Gozo, trying to secure Azzopardi's firm commit- ment to resign and also trying to convince all eligible contenders for Azzopardi's seat not to contest a possible casual election. But the drama is now unfolding on two fronts, as Hermann Schi- avone, who was elected on the 5th district, has taken to Facebook to insist he is willing to resign his seat in Parliament, if a clear path to Delia's co-option can be guar- anteed. In short, Schiavone is saying he would resign his seat only if all eligible contenders for the casual election declare beforehand that they would not contest the casual election or that they would resign too if they were to contest and win. But in Gozo as well as in the fifth district, not all candidates seem willing to go down without a fight. In Gozo, lawyer Joe Ellis would not commit himself to not con- testing a casual election, saying he would not speculate on such a "hypothetical matter". "At this moment I don't see why one should speculate," he told MaltaToday. "These are delicate matters." Ellis said many aspects needed to be taken into consideration, but insisted he would not speculate on hypothetical scenarios. "I don't like speculating about hypothetical scenarios. So far there are no vacancies, no casual elections; it's speculation that doesn't make sense," he said. "I don't see why one should stay speculating when there is no va- cancy." Ellis insisted that the best out- come for Delia was not to have a casual election. "The solution is another and I don't believe it will depend on me," he said. "I know some can- didates have declared they would not contest but I think it's a very delicate situation and one must keep in mind the dignity of the parliamentary seat." In the fifth district, rumours are abounding on social media as to who could contest the casual elec- tion or who would not commit to resigning immediately if they won the election. One of the possible contend- ers for Schiavone's seat would be Norman Vella, a popular radio host and presenter, who also told MaltaToday he would not com- mit himself to such a hypothetical scenario. He insisted he had never been approached by Delia, or any of his team, to discuss his position with regard to the casual election and whether he would resign if he were to win Schiavone's seat. "I can assure everyone that if the responsibility were to rest on my shoulders, I would take the re- sponsibility seriously and with the respect it deserves," he said. "One thing is sure, I would defi- nitely not discuss the matter or announce any decisions on social media, but would seek to discuss the issue directly with the party leader." Vella's insistence that he had never been approached by Delia's team, seems to corroborate suspi- cions that Schiavone's posturing is being used as a smokescreen to di- vert attention from where the real action is actually taking place. Moreover, many seem reluctant to accept that Delia, or his team, would willingly sacrifice Schi- avone – one of only a handful of MPs who have publicly endorsed and supported the new leader. Not having Schiavone in parlia- ment would dilute Delia's support within the parliamentary group, and his team must by now be aware there is little enough of that. Additional reporting by Yannick Pace Delia's quest for seat in the House suffers further setback The resignation of Frederick Azzopardi would trigger a casual election on the 13th district, but that would mean Delia must secure cooperation from candidates contesting the election to resign immediately so that he is co-opted to the House