Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/881840
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 1 OCTOBER 2017 News 5 PAUL COCKS NATIONALIST Party leader Adrian Delia must distance him- self from the 'kingmakers' sur- rounding him and work at becom- ing his own man, Nationalist MP Edwin Vassallo told MaltaToday. Vassallo, a former minister, yesterday announced he would be running for deputy leader for parliamentary affairs. The PN whip David Agius has already an- nounced he would be contesting the position. "At this time, I feel it is my duty and responsibility to help the party which is calling on me to play my part in bringing the party together and winning back people's trust," Vassallo said. "Together with my colleagues in the new administra- tion, I can provide a shoulder for the new leader to lean on." Vassallo told MaltaToday he had been quite frank with Delia during a meeting, but insisted the leader had made him feel very welcome and appreciated. "I told Delia that even though I had supported Chris Said in the leadership contest, my loyalty would still be to the party and the leader, as it has always been," he said. "And when I told him that I was aware I could not be expected to play a major role in his team after having backed Said, Delia quite frankly told me not to jump to conclusions." Vassallo said Delia asked him for advice on how to help the PN regain the trust of traditional sup- porters. It was then that Vassallo said he would be running for the deputy leadership, unless Said too decided to contest the post. "In that case, I will immediately pull out of the race, because it has always been the custom for the leadership runner-up to assume a deputy leadership role in the par- ty," he said. Vassallo however admitted there was little good will from either side to see this happen. Vassallo said it was normal for Delia to be still surrounded with his loyal supporters. "The king- makers are hovering around him now, but at some point he needs to be his own man. The worst thing he can do is to surround himself with yes-men who are only in it for personal gain." The outspoken MP, the only one to vote against the marriage equality bill in June despite the Whip's instruction to vote in fa- vour, said Delia would be tested every day. "Someone like Delia needs someone like me because I have the moral fibre to stand up and not be a yes-man. Delia needs people who will tell him when he's wrong and I sincerely wish to help him become better." Vassallo also said he identified with Delia's message on values, morals and a free vote for MPs. "He's talking about things that I value and he's speaking my lan- guage. This is a leap of faith and we must give Delia the benefit of the doubt that he actually means well." PAUL COCKS THE Nationalist mayor of San Lawrenz and the Labour deputy mayor of Qala were among the councillors dissuaded by their parties from contesting the election for the Association of Local Councils, in a 'backroom deal' to field just enough candi- dates so that no election is held, MaltaToday has learned. Labour will now retain its one- seat majority with five mem- bers. Sources close to the PN con- firmed that Noel Formosa, PN mayor of San Lawrenz, wanted to contest the ALC election to become the Gozo region repre- sentative on the committee. Adrian Delia called him for a meeting at the PN headquarters where, instead, Formosa was confronted by Pierre Portelli, the Malta Independent's direc- tor of content who is running Delia's office as chief-of-staff. Portelli told Formosa in no unclear terms that there was no need for someone else to con- test the election, since there was already Samuel Azzopardi con- testing, the sources said. The election of the nine mem- bers of the ALC executive was originally scheduled for Oc- tober 14. At the end of the three-day nomination period on Friday, the candidates were un- contested. The executive committee is composed of a chairman, three members and five officials rep- resenting the south-east, south, centre, north and Gozo regions. When contacted by MaltaTo- day, Formosa did not deny what happened but said he would prefer not to comment. A spokesman for the PN de- nied the reports, insisting that "No, Partit Nazzjonalista did not stop anyone from contest- ing". In a parallel case, sources in the Labour Party said Qala deputy mayor Jesmond Borg also wanted to contest the elec- tion, but was also told by the party not to. Borg could not be reached for comment by the time of going to print. Nationalist MP Jason Azzo- pardi likened the political deal between the Nationalist and La- bour parties to match fixing. The Nationalist MP, who has not held back from criticism of the PN's new leader after having supported Chris Said, said yes- terday he was "averse to back- room deals". "Dangerous precedent. I'm averse to backroom deals be- tween 'adversaries'. In sports terms, agreeing beforehand on a pre-arranged outcome of a game is illegal," he wrote on his Facebook wall in reaction to the story appearing in the Times of Malta. Azzopardi's jibe was a direct reference to Adrian Delia's re- cent past as a football club pres- ident before entering the politi- cal fray. The Nationalist Party had resorted to such a stratagem in 2012 when it presented the minimum number of candi- dates necessary in four locali- ties for the local council elec- tions of 10 March, in a bid to have all candidates elected au- tomatically without the need of an election. The same tactic was employed in 2005 when the PN actually withdrew candidates for the Marsa and Zejtun councils, leading to no election being held for the two councils. Party councilors told not to run for ALC election Vassallo tells Delia to dismiss kingmakers and yes-men Notice The Regulator for Energy and Water Services would like to inform the General Public that the offices of the Regulator will be closed to the public all day on Friday 6 th October 2017. The offices will reopen as usual on Monday, 9thOctober 2017. The Regulator apologises for any inconvenience. Millennia 2 nd Floor, Aldo Moro Road, Marsa, MRS 9065 ,Malta. Tel.: 21220619; Fax.: 22955200 http://www.rews.org.mt Edwin Vassallo: Delia is speaking his language on values and free votes Jesmond Borg, deputy mayor of Qala (left) and Noel Formosa, mayor of San Lawrenz (right) were barred from contesting the ALC election by their parties paving the way for the election of Sam Azzopardi (centre)