Nationalist Party will back George Vella’s nomination for President - Delia

The Nationalist Party will be voting in favour of George Vella's nomination for President, PN Leader Adrian Delia said this evening.

Speaking at an event in Mosta, Delia said the decision was taken unanimously during a meeting of the PN's Parliamentary Group held earlier on Wednesday.

The government confirmed yesterday that Vella, a former foreign affairs minister, will be Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca's successor when her term expires next month.

The PN criticized the move because it had been asking the government no nominate someone from the Opposition camp.

"We had been for weeks inviting the government to nominate someone from the Opposition camp - to give a signal that this government brings the national interest before everything else," Delia said. "A PN government had made the courageous choice to nominate George Abela for President."

The PN had supported the nomination of Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca to show that the Nationalist Party is above partisan politics and brings the national interest before anything else, he said.

Delia said he had nominated three persons for President.

The Venice Commission, he said, had confirmed that the Prime Minister enjoys too much power. Within this context, the PN suggested that the government nominate someone from the PN. "The government decided to ignore this invitation and went ahead to nominate George Vella for the post," Delia said.  

"The PN's Parliamentary Group met today and decided unanimously that, because we bring the national interest before anything else, we will vote in favour of Vella's nomination. This is to give a clear signal that, despite everything the PM says, he is no longer credible. We will keep insisting that all recommendations made by the Venice Commission should be implemented immediately," Delia said.  

The PN Leader said George Vella now has a great responsibility at a time when democracy is under threat and we are fighting corruption.

 

PL statement

In a statement, the Labour Party said it welcomed the PN's decision on the matter but noted Delia's "partisan" comments.

 

The PL said that it would not go into political arguments but would instead enjoy the unanimous backing that the new President would have. 

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