The Nationalist Party’s annual Independence Day celebrations at the Granaries in Floriana have been moved to party’s Pieta Headquarters, in an attempt to save costs in face of mounting debt.

“This is the decision of responsible leadership that is committed to strengthening the party’s finances. It would be irresponsible to pile further debts just to hold these celebrations, and consequently the decision was to scale down the event in line with our budget,” Deputy Leader David Agius told The Times of Malta.

The decision was taken at an executive committee meeting held on Tuesday. The PN has been holding independence day meetings since 1971, occupying the granaries since 1982.

The PN has been crippled by debt for the better part of a decade, with a rumoured €20 million owed to creditors. While the move may seem prudent, critics are arguing that it should not have taken place during a rocky moment for the party.

Delia has only just survived a confidence vote, while the PN lost two elections (the MEP and Local Councils) by devastating margins last May.

An issue critics seem to have failed to notice, is that the PN has routinely failed to fill up the Floriana site with the massive numbers of people it requires, providing fuel to rivals who portray the small crowds as evidence of a party tumbling into irrelevance.

“While the annual Independence Day mass meeting on the Granaries has traditionally been the party’s show of force, in the current situation this would be too risky as a poor turnout would dampen morale even more and leave the leadership red-faced.”

“In this day and age when everybody takes photos and posts them on social media you cannot hide the crowds or empty spaces, be it in Pieta or at The Granaries,” Agius explained.

“The only difference is that the stage will be smaller, meaning less costs to set up the audio-visual equipment,” he continued.