Adrian Delia's allies come out in defence of embattled PN leader

The president of the Nationalist Party’s general council Kristy Debono has said she would wait for a decision by the courts before passing judgement on party leader Adrian Delia.

However, Debono asked for the privacy of the PN leader and his family to be respected in ongoing separation proceedings.

The embattled leader has been under pressure ever since it emerged that his wife had accused him of domestic violence against her and their children in a written reply to an urgent court application filed by Delia, asking the courts to let him see his five children.

The application followed his wife Nickie Vella de Fremeaux’s lawyers filing official separation proceedings in which they say that the marriage between the two had broken down irretrievably.

“I strongly believe that we should respect the privacy of the leader of the Opposition and his family during such a difficult situation whilst allowing the courts time to take a decision before passing judgment on the case,” Debono said.

“No one but the family has all the information, and jumping the gun and taking biased decisions is an option I will definitely not be following. Sharing extracts of leaked documents and footage is also something which I will not entertain as it definitely not in the family’s best interests.”

READ MORE: Adrian Delia says he will find those using personal troubles to undermine his leadership

The story broke last Saturday as dozens of videos and messages from Delia’s as well as his wife and children’s phones started doing the rounds on Whatsapp. It is unclear who released the personal content to the public.

Speaking during a phone interview on the PN’s radio station on Sunday, Delia insisted he would be respecting an agreement between him and Vella de Fremeaux and would not be making any public comments.

Delia did say however that his personal affairs were being used to gain political mileage by those with an interest in undermining his leadership.

“I am no different from other people and even if they haven’t been through problems themselves, everyone knows someone that has been through problems like these,” Delia insisted. 

The PN leader said that he and his wife had agreed they would not be discussing personal matters in the media and that he would not give any further details. Delia said however that he would be looking into those spreading the information and would not exclude taking action in this regard.

READ MORE: Adrian Delia’s wife files separation proceedings, says marriage irreconcilable

Pierre Portelli said Adrian Delia was the only person to lead the PN

Meanwhile, the CEO of the PN media, Pierre Portelli, also sprung to Delia's defence, insisting he saw no other person suitable to lead the PN and make it an inclusive party.

"On the personal issues I do not wish to comment, not because I don’t know, but because I respect the family’s privacy, as I did in the case involving the other leaders of the two parties,” Portelli said.

“All I will say is that the rumours are being propagated by those who have an interest in using a personal situation to give the impression that this is weighing down on his leadership.”

Portelli said he retained the same faith in Delia he had when he decided to support his leadership bid over a year ago, insisting that the PN was greater than any individual.

“The PN is everyone’s party and in my mind there is nobody better than Adrian Delia to lead this party that represents all the different social strata.”

READ ALSO: Adrian Delia: A private battle under public scrutiny