Delia backs down on resignation call, Busuttil loses good governance role

A solution has been found to the Nationalist Party's debacle regarding Simon Busuttil, with Adrian Delia saying, after days of discussions, that he will not be insisting for the former Opposition leader to suspend himself.

Busuttil will, however, not retain his shadow minister position, losing his portfolio as spokesperson for good governance. 

Nationalist MP Clyde Puli said that a consensus had been reached for no additional steps to be taken against Busuttil, after he agreed to the terms laid out before him, namely that he won't remain a shadow minister, but will not resign as a PN MP.

“We won’t be taking any steps backwards, but we won’t be taking any further action either,” Puli said.

In a statement, Delia confirmed that no more internal party procedures against Busuttil would be taken.

The decision will be confirmed by the PN’s Administrative Council.

The agreement comes more than a week after Delia asked Busuttil to suspend himself from the PN parliamentary group, following the publication of the conclusory findings of Magistrate Aaron Bugeja's Egrant inquiry. Delia had said that since Busuttil had made the allegations regarding the ownership of Egrant his own, he would be losing his good governance portfolio, also requesting that he (Busuttil) suspend himself as a PN MP.

Following this evening's decision, Delia reiterated that other magisterial inquiries, which raised serious questions regarding the behaviour of high ranking officials of Joseph Muscat’s government, in particular Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi and the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff Keith Schembri, were ongoing.

These officials still enjoy complete impunity, despite the clear evidence of their irresponsible actions, he said.

The party will be directly following the inquiries’ procedures, and requesting that justice is done as soon as possible.

In a press release, Busuttil said he was “welcoming the Nationalist Party leader's statement [in my regard]”.

“I believe the Opposition should be united against our only political adversary - the present government,” he said.