Nationalist MP Ivan Bartolo has refused to take a stand in favour or against Adrian Delia, but has criticised the MPs who are in open warfare with their party leader.

“Ignoring the decision of your party’s members (tesserati) and criticising your leader in public does not make you a hero,” Bartolo told Lovin Malta, referring to the “17 Blue Heroes” Facebook image of the 17 Nationalist MPs supposedly calling for Delia to resign. (One MP, Stephen Spiteri, has since distanced himself from the group.)

“You’re a hero if you save someone’s life or if you do something extraordinary for your country or community,” Bartolo told Lovin Malta, adding that the move to name MPs was a “big mistake” and was only intended to “divide and rule”.

Lovin Malta contacted Bartolo for his take on Delia’s leadership but the MP said he will discuss internally, even though he is cautious about talking in parliamentary group meetings since everything is always leaked.

“We might as well have live streaming of our meetings,” he quipped.

Bartolo, who had been banned from the Labour Party when he took a stand in favour of EU membership back in 2003, said he matured since that time.

“I have no remorse for what I had done and I’m glad my country became a member of the EU. But since then, and also thanks to my work as a seminarian within the Church, I learnt the value of internal discussion rather than airing one’s dirty laundry in public,” he said.

Asked to tell his constituents how he would vote if the PN parliamentary group had to take a stand on Delia, Bartolo said: “Delia was not my cup of tea and I did not vote for him. But he is now the leader and he went through three separate tests. Otherwise, where’s the democracy? Everyone has their opinion. I have mine and it might be different to yours but that doesn’t mean we ignore the tesserati.”

Bartolo said the PN’s woes had been troubling the party for years and the party should have a serious discussion on its future without humiliating anyone, keeping in mind that Delia too has his followers. 

“My duty is to influence within the party. We represent all the members of the party, and in my constituency there are both people who are in favour and against Delia. I will participate in the discussion and I will see. For now I cannot say I am in favour or against,” he concluded.