Members of the Nationalist Party’s youth section are adamantly opposing attempts to endorse a unanimous resolution expressing confidence in embattled leader Adrian Delia, Times of Malta has learnt.

Party sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the issue would be on the agenda of a Moviment Żgħażagħ Partit Nazzjonalista executive committee meeting set for Monday evening.

“Should a vote be taken on the matter, the outcome would in all probability be similar to what happened last Friday in Sliema, when a motion of confidence in Dr Delia was defeated by the sectional committee,” the sources said.

Dr Delia is facing internal calls to step down in view of allegations of domestic violence and money laundering as well as issues related to his personal finances. However, he remains defiant, saying the claims are false and an attempt to oust him by those who did not accept the democratic will of party members who elected him.

Read: Delia 'must step down' or be fired after domestic violence claims

The sources said relations between the MŻPN and the party administration had lately turned sour.

They noted that, a few months ago, they had clashed over the Future Leaders programme. This initiative was meant to attract youths, aged between 14 and 24, to venture into politics.

Tensions with MŻPN

However, some perceived this programme as an attempt to replace or marginalise the youth section as they felt they were being left out of planning events, the sources noted.

They added some MŻPN members had become so disenchanted by the fact that every idea they were floating was being shot down by the central party administration that in November they threatened to step down.

Read: PN MPs left in the dark as Delia fails to reconvene group

Times of Malta is informed that tension continued to escalate when party branches were being pressured to follow the footsteps of the majority of sectional committees who expressed unanimous trust in Dr Delia.

By the time of writing, only the Moviment Nisa Partit Nazzjonalista, the party’s female section, and Solidarjetà Ħaddiema PN, the workers’ branch, were known to have made such a declaration.

In the case of the youth section, however, this could prove a bridge too far, with officials close to Dr Delia warned not to push their luck too much as they could face the risk of embarrassment as happened in Sliema when a confidence motion was defeated by 10 votes to three.

Dr Delia on Sunday downplayed the matter saying over 90 per cent of committees had given them his backing.

In the case of Gozo, such declaration was only issued at regional committee level. Furthermore, the sources said the resolution was not unanimously backed.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.