Former PN leadership contender Alex Perici Calascione has urged Opposition leader Adrian Delia not to ignore or try to minimise the PN’s heavy defeat at the European Parliament election.

“We must take stock of the reality we find ourselves in,” Perici Calascione, a PN executive member, said. “The gap between PL and PN has increased from 33,677 [in 2014] to 42,656, we have lost our third seat, and the gap between the PL and the PN since the 2017 general election has increased from 11.5% to 16.4%, equivalent to 7,376 votes.”

“It has been established that this was the worst electoral defeat in the PN’s history,” Perici Calascione continued. “Every electoral result is a message by the people to political parties and we all have a responsibility to listen to it, accept it as it is, examine it and take action. The larger the gap, the stronger the electorate’s message and the more pressing the need to respond.”

While Perici Calascione didn’t spell out what he thinks needs to change within the PN, he argued that “nobody is greater in the party” but that the party shouldn’t shut its doors to anyone

“For the sake of what is right, for the sake of the PN’s glorious history, for the sake of all those activists who have given and sacrificed so much time and energy for the party’s cause, and for the sake of ourselves and our children who want this party to provide a better future for Malta, I urge you to not ignore or to minimise the impact and the meaning of this defeat,” he said.

“I am ready to play my part as I have always done and I will keep dedicating my talents and energy to the PN to ensure that, by the next general election, we will once again become a serious, credible, inclusive party with integrity and clear proposals that can present itself as an alternative government,” Perici Calscione finished.

Delia has said the PN must accept its defeat graciously and find out why so many people opted against voting for its candidates. However, he has refused to resign or call a confidence vote, arguing that PN members had given him a mandate to lead the party till the next general election.

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Tim Diacono

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]