The election of Adrian Delia as PN leader last night has drawn very mixed reactions, from hailing the former Birkirkara FC president as the right man for the right time to Nationalist supporters who claim they now feel disenfranchised.
The government's spokesman. Kurt Farrugia, in a personal post that was an obvious reference to the PN election, was biting, writing 'Enter the sleazy and the criminals.' In the ensuing comments, former Nationalist MP Franco Debono said 'Adrian Delia will never be my leader.'
Former Parliamentary Secretary Deborah Schembri, who up to a few months ago worked a few offices away from Mr Farrugia, welcomed Dr Delia's first speech and said he was mimicking Joseph Muscat.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, usually quick on Twitter, was noticeably silent, but he later congratulated Dr Delia, 30 minutes into a speech in Żebbug. He said he would invite him to a meeting so that they could discuss how to work together.
Jason Azzopardi, one of the Nationalist MPs who campaigned against Dr Delia, did not offer personal congratulations, but retweeted the message of congratulation by former leader Simon Busuttil. He also told Dr Delia that: "You now have the responsibility of continuing what we started."
Earlier, Dr Azzopardi referred to the concession message by Chris Said, saying he had been magnanimous in defeat, a defeat by a mere 800 votes out of 15,000 votes. "The victor might do well to take a leaf from the book of magnanimity," he said.
Nationalist MP Robert Arrigo in a congratulatory message confirmed he would be contesting the election for PN deputy leader.
Chris Said, who lost out to Dr Delia, congratulated the new leader and promised him his backing early in the counting process.
Dr Delia himself thanked all voters yesterday. He had also changed his slogan from A New Way to Coming Together.
One decision Dr Delia will have to take is whether to hold the coalition with the Democratic Party together. Outgoing PD leader Marlene Farrugia had not backed him in the election and appeared to be poaching disappointed PN members in a post last night.
Feelings among PN supporters were mixed. One former member of a PN minister's secretariat, who had criticised Adrian Delia, spoke on Facebook of now being 'politically orphaned," but commenters on his post urged to give the new leader time before he was judged. At least two councillors - Wayne Hewitt in Gzira and Daniel Cordina in Zebbug, Gozo - who had also backed Dr Said, said they no longer felt comfortable in the PN but would stay on in their councils. Both were urged by a number of commenters not to rush.
Issues were also raised about Dr Delia's financial dealings and fears of comparisons with the controversy surrounding minister Konrad Mizzi and chief of staff Keith Schembri.
Some appeared to take Marlene Farrugia's hint and saw the Democratic Party as their new political home.
Election candidate and political commentator David Thake, who had strongly backed Chris Said, spoke of returning tot he 'quiet life'
Later he added:
Joanna Agius a PN candidate in 2013 said she was now 'officially' a floating voter.
But will Dr Delia's election really see Nationalists move to other parties? This is how a poster put it:
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