MEP Roberta Metsola has announced that she will not be running for in the Nationalist Party leadership race, opening up the door for Bernard Grech to take on Adrian Delia.

“With a leadership election looming, I have made it clear that I will do my duty and was ready to throw my hat in the ring should that help heal the Party, push forward a platform for change, present our vision for Malta and ultimately be the Government-in-waiting Malta deserves.”

“I will keep fighting for those values. For the politics of the centre that I have always stood for. For that vision of change.”

“But some ceilings need a few more cracks before they can be smashed through,” Metsola wrote.

A leadership race was called after a general council vote took place following bruising weeks for Delia’s tenure.

Metsola explained that her candidature would likely result in a multi-horse race that could take months. However, she revealed that there is a consensus that only one candidate will run against Delia.

Metsola previously hinted at a potential run, laying out her vision for the country, including tax incentives for local companies and a clampdown on ODZ plans, in a Times of Malta opinion piece.

In a Facebook post today, she said:

“Our Party needs to be able to speak to a new generation. It needs to reach out to an electorate that feels forgotten and politically homeless. It needs to offer solutions. It needs to heal. It needs to be honest about its failures.”

“We need to offer people hope & justice. We need to offer people options of prosperity and we need to protect our environment. Those are the three themes we need to fight for.”

“However it is dressed up, the same old way, using the same old model, repeating the same old soundbites, will only see the same old results. My position was always clear: we need radical change or we will become irrelevant.”

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