It is no wonder that since 2013, the Nationalist Party did not make any inroads with the electorate. Survey after survey show the same pattern, with the Labour Party leading by an average of 25 percentage points. The latest one by The Sunday Times even shows that the actual leader Adrian Delia as the 4th choice as leader among those who said they would be voting for the PN if an election is called today. More seriously, Robert Abela is trusted four times as much as Adrian Delia by respondents of the survey held before the Montenegro corrupt deal was exposed.

This when one considers that Malta is sinking into a cesspit of corruption with half of Robert Abela’s cabinet involved in some kind of corruption or breaching the rule of law. Adrian Delia a couple of weeks ago answered a question in an interview by stating: “I don’t think the PN will lose the next election.” Now to say that the PN has a chance to win the next election is like saying that the moon is inhabited by three legged fuchsia coloured aliens who went into hiding when Neil Armstrong set foot on their planet.

Adrian Delia as a person is an amiable man and a very good orator. But he failed completely as party leader. Being successful at managing a football team is quite different from leading a political party. Besides he made gross mistakes during his tenure. Many people still believe that he has skeletons in his cupboard. The Soho business with Chris Cardona uncovered by Daphne Caruana Galizia was never swept away even though, to be fair, he asked several times the police to investigate him.

Then came his biggest gaffe when, in an angry and threatening speech he called her ‘a biċċa blogger.’ That drove thousands of supporters away from the PN, supporters that as long as he is the leader will never go back to the fold.

Another mistake was was when he did not take any action against two MPs who went to meet Yorgen Fenech to ask for a sponsorship for a hall. It is true that the party is in dire financial difficulty, but to go and try to get a free hall, that might have cost a mere €1,000 a day is not credible.

Lately, Hermann Schiavone even suggested that the PN should welcome back Franco Debono which looks like Jesus asking Judas out for dinner.

There is also the claim that the Nationalist Party received money from Yorgen Fenech to avoid David Casa from being elected to the European Parliament. Adrian Delia took an oath that he did not talk to or receive any money from Fenech. But could there be an official who dealt with this? Just asking.

Adrian Delia has promised a ‘new way’ but the truth is that the Nationalist Party is relying on the old guard of the likes of Louis Galea, one of the best politician the PN has ever had, Francis Zammit Dimech, a true gentleman and Ċensu Galea who was one of the victims of that scoundrel Lorry Sant who despised anything that had to do with the Nationalist Party.

What the PN needs now is to get new blood, young blood which would attract back youths who were always the backbone of the Nationalist Party.

The Sunday Times survey showed that the preferred leader is Bernard Grech. With due respect to the great lawyer and orator, I do not think that he is the ideal person to lead the party. My mind goes to two people, Roberta Metsola and Claudio Grech. They should form the new leadership. Both are young and experienced politicians. Roberta has been an MEP since 2013 after being active in the youth section of the Nationalist Party while Claudio Grech was tutored by none other than Austin Gatt, a pillar of the Nationalist Party.

In my humble opinion and with apologies to my friend Claudio Grech, I believe that the ideal set would be with Metsola as leader and Claudio Grech as deputy leader. A female leader of a political party would be a first in Maltese political history and seeing results obtained by ‘lady leaders’ betting on a woman is a sure bet.

The change, if there is a change in the offing, should happen tomorrow rather than the day after. As things stand there is a big risk that the Labour Party might manage to obtain two thirds of the Parliamentary seats, practically leading to the first dictatorship in the European Union’s history. If that happens it will not only mean a loss fot Adrian Delia and the Nationalist Party but a greater loss to Malta.

Time is running out. Act now.