LA VALLETTA (MALTA) (ITALPRESS/MNA) – Family lawyer Bernard Grech will become the next Leader of the Opposition in Malta. Late Saturday night he was voted to become the new leader of the Nationalist Party’s following yesterday’s leadership election as he has obtained more votes than the incumbent, Adrian Delia.
Addressing the party members, Bernard Grech declared “the first thing I will work on as PN leader is unity. This political party will be the party that everyone can feel part of. I want a party that is organized, credible and united.” “As from tomorrow we need to unite this party and start working towards a general election to make this glorious party a truly alternative government,” concluded Bernard Grech.
12,663 voted for Bernard Grech, that is 69.3% of the party members while Adrian Delia got 5,622 votes, 30.7%. There were also 77 invalid votes. In a statement issued by the PN’s Electoral Commission, shortly after the official result was announced, it was said 85% of the party members have voted.
Grech is the second successive PN leader chosen from outside Parliament, after Delia himself. MP and entrepreneur Ivan J. Bartolo has already offered to give up his seat to make way for Grech: since he was himself elected through a casual election, it will be up to the party to co-opt the replacement of its choice.
The leadership election was held on the strength of a decision of the PN’s general council on 1 August, with the council having rejected Deliàs preferred option of a simple confidence vote among the tesserati.
Delia had already lost confidence votes among the party’s parliamentary group and its executive committee, but insisted that only the party members could force his removal from the party’s leadership.
(ITALPRESS).

Source: medNews