The latest election result is not so much a PL victory as it is a PN defeat. The single most determining factor is the large number of voters who did not cast their vote and who are assumed to be largely PN sympathisers especially since they hail mainly from areas that have traditionally voted for the PN.

Is this attributable, or attributable solely, to the non-acceptance of Adrian Delia as PN leader by certain quarters? Is it due to the lack of confidence in him? Or is it a much more complex affair and that there is more to it than this?

It can be that certain PN sympathisers have not voted because of a sense of futility and disenchantment attributable to the fact that the party is perceived as split down the middle. It is also possible that there is an increasing division of ideologies between those who lean towards the conservative and those who are more liberal, and the party is not managing to keep them together any longer. And it could also be that there were those among the PN sympathisers who were not bothered to vote because the economy is doing well and, despite other considerations, they decided not to upset the applecart.

Therefore, I firmly believe that the party should immediately carry out a deep analysis of the causes behind such an electoral defeat and set a short deadline by when such an analysis should be finalised and made public.

I also believe that the party leader, who is after all the one who carries the ultimate responsibility for the party’s performance, should himself pledge to seek a vote of confidence from the highest organ within the party, the General Council, immediately after the results of the analysis are out.

The best interests of the party itself and of Dr Delia’s future as a leader dictate that he should himself ask for a vote of confidence

I am not of the view that the leader should just quit here and now without the party first determining the causes for the defeat. I also do not believe that he should soldier on, business as usual, as if the electoral result we have just witnessed did not exist.

I firmly believe that the best interests of the party itself and of Dr Delia’s future as a leader dictate that he should himself ask for a vote of confidence rather than risk the acrimony caused by any collection of signatures calling for his resignation or his removal from office and the possible humiliation to him this would give rise to.

I would add here that in calling for a vote of confidence Dr Delia should make it  clear that if he loses the confidence vote he would immediately set in motion the process for the election of a new party leader and that, until the new leader is elected, he would only remain in a caretaker capacity.

On the other hand, it should also be made clear by Dr Delia and by all the party organs that if he won the vote of confidence, all the party officials and members at national, local and party levels would be expected to unequivocally support the leadership at least until the next general election; that they would all act as one team; that unity must be clearly visible and that no dissension within the party will be tolerated thereafter.

I am afraid that if this is not done and if the leader and the party plod on business as usual, the situation, instead of improving, would only get worse for the forthcoming general election.

If it is done, whatever the outcome, the party will be able to concentrate its efforts on how to win back those who have so far been disenchanted or disheartened, disillusioned or disinterested or for whatever other reason have decided to stay at home this time round or to switch allegiance.

The whole process needs to be over and done with by the end of this year if there is to be a decent chance for the party and its leader, whether he is Dr Delia or someone new, to achieve an electoral success in 2022.

I also believe that serious consideration should be given to the formation of alliances that group together conservative, liberal and green forces under one overarching structure. In this way the prospects for an alternative governing majority become much more real.

Dr Borg is a former PN minister and European Commissioner.

This is a Times of Malta print opinion piece