PN Councillor Resigns After Adrian Delia Voted Out: ‘I No Longer Recognise My Party’
Birkirkara councillor Deborah Mifsud has resigned from the party and will stay on as an independent councillor in light of the way Adrian Delia was voted out as PN leader last night.
“The leader shouldn’t have been kicked out and should have been allowed to complete his full five-year term,” Mifsud told Lovin Malta. “I have nothing against Bernard Grech but there can’t be an election every other year. I’ve been a Nationalist since birth but this party is unrecognisable now.”
“I won’t join the Labour Party because I don’t like them but I can’t recognise my own party with all this ħdura (spite) around.”
Mifsud, whose partner Andre Grech was one of Delia’s main canvassers, said the previous leader did his utmost to try and unite the PN but was faced with consistent resistance by some people within his own party, including those close to former leader Simon Busuttil.
“He was faced with mudslinging and people trying to destroy him from within since his very first day as leader, and even before that,” she said.
“What was it all for? In my opinion, Bernard Grech has destroyed his political career and should have waited till after the general election, which is soon coming up.”
“No wonder we’ve lost ten elections in a row by a large margin. [Former Prime Minister] Lawrence Gonzi said PL governments make you ashamed to be Maltese, but now I’m ashamed to say I’m a Nationalist.”
“Malta badly needs an Opposition, the Labour Party enjoys a monopoly at the moment, but I’d rather remain independent.”
Justin Schembri, the PN minority leader on the Birkirkara local council, confirmed he has been in contact with Mifsud but cannot make any further public comments before party officials notify him of her decision.
Grech triumphed at last night’s leadership election, winning around 69% of the vote among the party’s members, and immediately reached out to Delia and PN supporters who backed the former leader.
However, several PN supporters who backed Delia have turned their backs on the party.
Rennie Muscat, a member of the PN’s Bormla sectional committee, announced that he and his family have switched their allegiances to the Labour Party and posted photos of himself standing next to prominent PL politicians.
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