Norman Vella resigns from PN after Schiavone’s re-instatement

Norman Vella has resigned from the Nationalist Party after district rival, Hermann Schiavone, was yesterday re-instated in the parliamentary group.

Vella who contested as a PN candidate in the 2014 European Parliament election and the 2017 general election insisted the Schiavone decision went against what the party stood for.

“Today, I would be letting myself and all those who voted for me down if I do not express my anger at the party’s decision, which I believe goes against what we worked and voted for two years ago,” Vella said.

He made the announcement in a lengthy Facebook post on Tuesday night, shortly after the PN executive voted to re-instate Schiavone in the parliamentary group.

Vella also acknowledged the leadership’s right to take the decisions it deems fit and move the party in the direction it wants and in the circumstances had no option but to resign from the PN.

In the last election, Schiavone was elected on the Fifth District on the strength of the votes he inherited from Vella when the former TV presenter dropped from the race.

The district saw the PN gain a seat and if Schiavone resigned from parliament, Vella would have been in pole position to get elected in a casual election.

Schiavone’s mistake was meeting Yorgen Fenech earlier this year to ask for a sponsorship of a hall.

Vella, like many others within the PN, felt the party’s decision to approach Fenech was inconsistent with its harsh criticism of government exponents Konrad Mizzi and Keith Schembri over their connection with Dubai company 17 Black, a company owned by Fenech.

Accompanying Vella’s Facebook post were several congratulatory notes from others who insisted they were also “political orphans” in view of the PN’s direction under Adrian Delia.

However, others were less kind, accusing Vella of jumping ship and noting that the “fight against Joseph Muscat” could not be won with antics like his.

The PN has emerged from a bruising period after losing dramatically in the local and European elections last May. In July, Adrian Delia won a vote a confidence among PN councillors, giving him a renewed mandate to lead the party until the general election.

However, almost a third of councillors voted against him, a sign of the deep divisions within the party.