Almost a year-and-a-half since Adrian Delia took over the leadership of the Nationalist Party, the PN has not made any inroads in the polls despite promises of a new way of conducting politics and notwithstanding the fact that the government has made no real effort to combat corruption and strengten the rule of law.

The latest survey shows that the gap between the PN and Labour is still huge while recent Europe-wide polls conducted ahead of the European elections show Labour on course to win four MEP seats and the PN two.

It was always going to be an uphill struggle for anyone taking over the party after two consecutive landslide electoral defeats in the midst of record economic growth. To make matters worse, Dr Delia got off to a bad start with his attacks on journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia during his leadership campaign, a mistake of monumental proportions which some PN voters have never forgiven him for.

Dr Delia committed another colossal blunder when last year he made the absurd demand for former party leader Simon Busuttil, who enjoys widespread respect in the PN, to suspend himself from the party’s parliamentary group in the wake of the publication of the conclusons of the Egrant inquiry. Thankfully, common sense prevailed and Dr Delia withdrew his request.

Questions have also been raised about some of Dr Delia’s financial dealings and his personal life, which a section of the electorate and some of his own MPs are clearly not comfortable with. Dr Delia insists that his financial affairs are in order and has denied the allegations made against him. Time will tell whether voters will give the PN the benefit of the doubt over these matters.

One cannot ignore the fact that Dr Delia is constantly surrounded by the same close group of advisers and MPs, whose judgement and political strategy are open to question. The rifts between the PN’s pro- and anti-Delia factions,  which occasionally break into the open, are certainly not appreciated by voters.

In spite of this difficult situation, Dr Delia has managed to focus, rightly so, on the Labour government’s serious shortcomings in good governance and the fight against corruption, as well as its lack of long-term economic planning and its almost total submission to the construction industry.

Dr Delia has called for a public inquiry into the murder of Caruana Galizia and has twice taken the government to court – to demand the publication of the full Egrant inquiry and to annul the hospital privatisation deal between the government and Vitals Global Healthcare.

He has also associated himself completely with the findings of the Venice Commission, which proposed major reforms to strengthen the rule of law. During his speech to the PN general council he highlighted the Ombudsman’s report on the scandalous promotions at the Armed Forces of Malta in the aftermath of Labour’s 2013 electoral victory – which he rightly called a “threat to democracy”. Indeed, a good part of Dr Delia’s speech was dedicated to how the Labour government has undermined good governance and the rule of law.

As part of his priorities as PN leader, Dr Delia has given equal importance to what he sees as the government’s excessive encouragement of imported foreign labour without assessing the effect on society and infrastructure, its neglect of our cultural heritage and environment and its over-reliance on ugly, unsustainable mega projects and high-rise buildings which make the everyday lives of residents so much harder.

The PN leader has also made it a point to stress the importance of social justice and the plight of those at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder who have not benefitted from Malta’s economic boom.  He is right to do this, especially in view of a recent IMF report which said the proportion of those at risk of relative poverty is increasing continuously. Dr Delia must be careful not to overemphasise this point; voters also want to know how a PN government would maintain Malta’s impressive economic growth.

Dr Delia’s first real test will come in May at the European elections, although the PN leader told this newspaper last week that his target is the 2022 election. However, he did also say that he would resign if he became “a liability”.

The question is, what would make Dr Delia acknowledge he has become a liability? If the MEP election result is anywhere close to the latest opinion poll figures, then undoubtedly he would have to go. Such a result would not necessarily mean that voters have rejected his policies, but they would have rejected him. He would have to face the consequences.

This is a Times of Malta print editorial