Bernard Grech is new PN leader with 69.3% of the vote

Bernard Grech has been elected leader of the Nationalist Party, with 69.3% of the vote, a veritable landslide.

He will be the PN’s ninth leader.

Grech won with 12,663 votes.

Adrian Delia got 5,622 votes (30.7%). There were 77 invalid votes.

The family lawyer’s landslide confirmed the thirst for change inside the PN after a lacklustre three years with Adrian Delia at its helm.

Grech greeted the PN’s General Convention, saying this was an important victory of the PN and not a loss for Adrian Delia. “My job is now to gain the trust of those 5,000 and over voters who chose someone else today.”

Grech thanked his campaign’s volunteers, whom he said had “lifted him up” and pushed him towards his victory.

“This result fills me with great responsibility... I am ready to serve the entire Maltese and Gozitan population.

“I thank Adrian Delia for his message today, and for having found the courage and determination to offer me his utmost loyalty, so that he as MP can work for the good of the country. Tomorrow we shall sit at the same table to discuss how to make this party a stronger one.”

Grech said his wish was for nobody to be ignored by the PN. “Many people want us to be their defenders, and for us to help them be proud of their country. So I say unto them, to come to us: this is the wish of so many who want to free this country of  its criminal rule. This is indeed the beginning.”

Grech thanked the PN’s electoral commission for managing to organise the election even under the difficult conditions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Outgoing leader Adrian Delia conceded before any official results were published. He told the press that he was happy that the PN had shown itself capable of living up to its democratic commitment to have paid-up members elect their leader.

Grech will only secure his seat in the House once a sitting MP cedes their seat. His first appointment will be replying to the Budget speech, which will also be the first such outing for Prime Minister Robert Abela.

Outgoing leader Adrian Delia conceded before any official results were published. He told the press that he was happy that the PN had shown itself capable of living up to its democratic commitment to have paid-up members elect their leader.

He said the challenge for the PN now was to stop its internal bickering. “The country needs a strong opposition, and a strong, united Nationalist Party.”

Delia said he would be loyal to Bernard Grech and to give him the support he did not find himself in the last three years. “I want my leader to not suffer from what I passed through in the last three years.”

But he would not speculate on whether he should cede his parliamentary seat to give Grech, who is not an MP, a way in to parliament to become Opposition leader.

Labour: Establishment victory

The Labour Party’s playbook was written well before Delia’s predicted loss. “The PN’s establishment, the one the people repudiated one election after the other, has won,” the party said in a statement.

“The same establishment and dynasties that lost the PN the 2013 election has won again. With Bernard Grech, the PN goes back to its policies of high energy bills and open migration, and its inferiority complex towards foreign states: a leader with no vision for the country.

“Over 3,000 of the PN’s grassroots stayed home, sending a clear message. Grech must come clean on his taxes if he wants to be taken seriously. This election has been won by Simon Busuttil’s faction, and that of Jason Azzopardi and Karol Aquilina.”

PN election

A total of 18,378 PN members cast their vote in the election for a leader of the party between Bernard Grech and Adrian Delia.

At 86.06%, the turnout was far better than the last election in 2017 when Delia was elected, with a turnout of 76.2%. 

Highest turnouts were in Swieqi (89.04%), Ta’ Xbiex (87.98%), and Gozo (87.84%). Lowest turnouts were in Zurrieq (81.88%), Valletta (82.91%), and Luqa (82.11%).

Both Adrian Delia and Bernard Grech have cast their votes on Friday morning.

Both candidates voted in their respective home towns: Delia in Siggiewi and Grech at the Naxxar PN club.

Ballots closed at 4pm in Malta and 2pm in Gozo. After that, ballot boxes were taken to the PN headquarters in Pietà for counting. Official results are expected to be announced at around 11pm on Saturday night.

Delia and Grech had both promised to unite the party in a three-week campaign, after being approved by the party’s due diligence commission. 76% of the Nationalist party’s 21,499 paid-up members eligible to vote in the leadership election had cast their ballots by Friday.