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Updated: Adrian Delia Defiant Against PN ‘Establishment’ Statement

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The Nationalist Party’s leadership election race has been thrown into disarray after the PN formally requested frontrunner Adrian Delia to withdraw his nomination in the light of reports he had laundered money from a Soho prostitution ring.

In comments to the press, outgoing PN leader Simon Busuttil said he would have withdrawn from the race had he been faced with the accusations Delia is currently facing.

“I am asking him to consider his position, but the PN is intent on leaving the final word in the hands of its councillors and members because we fully respect their intelligence, maturity and goodwill to choose according to the party’s best interests,” he said. 

However, Delia confirmed he has no intention of following the PN’s advice, telling the press the call for him to resign came from an “establishment” which has taken control over the party and which wants to tarnish his name as much as possible before the election.

The internal election will go ahead as planned – PN councillors will vote on Saturday to narrow down the list of four candidates to two, from whom the party’s paid-up members (tesserati) will elect a leader on 16 September. 

However, councillors will now have to keep in mind the findings of the PN’s administrative council, which convened at the PN’s Pieta headquarters tonight to discuss the findings of a report by the party’s ethics committee – commissioned two days ago and spearheaded by former PN minister Louis Galea – on the Soho case. 

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“Any shadow of doubt, no matter how small, cast on the integrity of a person planning to lead the PN can compromise both the person in his role as leader and, more seriously, the party itself,” the PN administrative council said in a late-night statement. “In light of the clear and serious results from the ethics committee, it would be appropriate for Delia to appropriately consider his position as a leadership candidate.”

It said the ethics committee found no reason to doubt the integrity of the other three leadership contestants – namely Chris Said, Alex Perici Calascione, and Frank Portelli.

However, a defiant Delia left Dar Centrali at around 11:30pm to claim the PN’s administrative council has been taken over by an “establishment” who is mis-interpreting the findings of the ethics committee’s report so as to tarnish his name.

“The administrative council hasn’t yet convened to discuss the election defeat, but it felt the need to urgently convene after a councillor [Charlot Cassar] requested it to look into the suitability of all four candidates,” he said. “The ethics committee summoned all four candidates, but yet the administrative council only mentioned me. Draw your own conclusions as to why…”

He refuse to name people who he believes form part of this “establishment”, simply stating he is referring to “more than one or two people”.

What do you make of this latest development? Let us know in the comments’ section

READ NEXT: ‘Delia Fever’ Grips Nationalist Party’s Disenchanted Supporters

Tim is interested in the rapid evolution of human society and is passionate about justice, human rights and cutting-edge political debates. You can follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X at @timdiacono or reach out to him at [email protected]

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