Adrian Delia

The Honourable
Adrian Delia
MP
Leader of the Opposition
Assumed office
6 October 2017
President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat
Preceded by Simon Busuttil
Leader of the Nationalist Party
Assumed office
17 September 2017
Preceded by Simon Busuttil
Member of Parliament
Assumed office
4 October 2017
Personal details
Born 8 August 1969
Sliema, State of Malta
Political party Nationalist Party
Spouse(s) Nickie Vella De Fremeaux
Children 5
Alma mater University of Malta

Adrian Delia (born 8 August 1969, in Sliema, Malta) is a Maltese politician, and lawyer by profession.[1] He is the leader of the Nationalist Party since September 2017 and Leader of the Opposition since October 2017.

Early life

Adrian Delia grew up in Birkirkara. He received his formation from the Jesuit St Aloysius' College (Malta). He graduated as a lawyer from the University of Malta in 1993.[2]

Professional life

Delia started out in the Legal Office of Mid-Med Bank,[2] a bank later acquired by HSBC and branded as HSBC Malta. Delia founded his legal firm Aequitas Legal. He acted as Director and Company Secretary of Erste Bank Malta.[3]

Involvement in football

Delia was elected as Vice-President of Birkirkara F.C. in June 2011, while also representing the club in the council of the Malta Football Association.[4] He then was President of Birkirkara from 29 May 2015 till 29 June 2017 following his announcement that he will be taking an active role in politics.

Under the presidency of Delia the Club achieved the first qualification in the third qualifying round in the UEFA Europa League in Season 2016-17.[5][6] Delia famously lured in former Italian international Fabrizio Miccoli.[7][8][9][10] The team managed to win a match against West Ham United F.C., but was eliminated on penalties.[11] After the match West Ham showed interested in Birkirkara's Mauricio Mazzetti, but Delia commented that no formal offers had been made.[12]

Involvement in politics

Adrian Delia worked for Radio 101 during his student years.[2]

He was approached by Mario de Marco on behalf of the Nationalist Party (Malta) to contest the Maltese general election, 2013 and Maltese general election, 2017, which he both declined for career reasons.[13]

In 2017, after the Simon Busuttil's announced departure as Leader of the Nationalist Party further to the loss in the 2017 elections, Delia was the first to contest the leadership of the party.[14][15] He resigned from Birkirkara F.C. on June 28, 2017.[16][17] His nomination was made official on July 17, 2017. [18] Delia faced Chris Said, Frank Portelli and Alex Perici Calascione. In August 2018, it was reported that Adrian Delia was possibly the most popular throughout the race, as his lack of political experience was seen as an advantage.[19] On September 17, 2017, he was confirmed as Leader of the Nationalist Party.[20][21]

Leader of the Nationalist Party

During the beginning of his tenure, Delia started reworking the image of the Nationalist Party. In fact the team installed was no longer made up by a majority of lawyers, which was typical of the party, but instead included a sociologist, an economist, a banker and an engineer. He also reintroduced the party to the man in the street, by visiting villages and their local clubs.[22]

He took a socially conservative stance in politics in general, in fact he has flagged that Malta was lacking traditional moral values and national soul, and has come out against the relaxation of drug laws and liberalisation of prostitution. Delia also flagged out security concerns from lack of community policing where necessary. He also came out against vacation leave for homosexual women seeking IVF treatment abroad, a motion which proved unpopular and was lost.[22]

On October 16, 2017, further to Daphne Caruana Galizia's assassination, he expressed concerns over rule of law, calling the incident “the collapse of democracy and freedom of expression.”[23] He called for Joseph Muscat, then Prime Minister of Malta, to assume responsibility of what happened by resigning. Delia however declined to join protests, saying it would not be appropriate for him to be present further to his past feud with her. [22]

On February 3, 2018, as Opposition Leader, Delia reshuffled spokesmanships within the Parliamentary Group and took the shadowing of the Justice Ministry in hand.[24]

Delia, on May 20, 2018, promised that a PN government, if elected, would repay the money overcharged from energy bills to the people. [25]

Further to the conclusions of the magisterial inquiry with regards to ownership of Egrant, Delia requested that the report would be published in full, and wrote to the Advocate General to provide him with a full copy.[26] Furthermore, Delia removed Simon Busuttil from Shadow Minister for Good Governance and asked him to resign on July 22, 2018.[27] Delia assumed the Good Governance portfolio himself.[28] His request was later backed by the Administrative Council of the Party.[29]

Controversy

In 2017, Daphne Caruana Galizia accused Delia of links to a London-based prostitution racket.[30] Delia denied the allegation.[30][31] In a later interview, in May 2018, he promised to resign if any such activity is ever found.[32]

During the same period, in September 2017, Delia was also linked to freemasonry, a link he denied.[33]

Further reading

  • "Adrian Delia". Aequitas.com.mt. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "Live: Adrian Delia leads, Chris Said second, as PN councillors vote for new leader". Timesofmalta.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "[WATCH] Adrian Delia beats the drums of war in rabble-rousing speech hitting out at PN's top brass". Maltatoday.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "[WATCH] Why Labour hasn't criticised Adrian Delia". Maltatoday.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "Adrian Delia says support for him grew in the wake of PN council decision". Timesofmalta.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "Delia says no vote was taken by PN administrative committee; challenges Caruana Galizia - The Malta Independent". Independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "Adrian Delia files fourth libel case against Daphne Caruana Galizia". Independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "Labour-Endorsing Paper Has Gushing Praise For PN's Adrian Delia". Lovinmalta.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "INTOPP GĦAL ADRIAN DELIA". Kullhadd.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "Adrian Delia mar l-aħjar". One.com.mt. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "Adrian Delia appears before PN Ethics Consultative Committee - TVM News". Tvm.com.mt. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "Dibattitu PN: Adrian Delia ma jweġibx". Newsbook.com.mt. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "[Aġġornat] Il-PN juri lil Adrian Delia il-bieb ta' barra..." Illum.com.mt. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • ""Leħen qawwi għall-bidla" - Adrian Delia". Netnews.com.mt. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "Birkirkara FC - News". Birkirkarafc.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.
  • "PressReader.com - Connecting People Through News". Pressreader.com. Retrieved 2 September 2017.

References

  1. ↑ "L-Avukat Adrian Delia għal President tal-MFA?". Illum.com.mt. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  2. 1 2 3 "Adrian Delia". On.org.mt. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  3. ↑ "Updated - Adrian Delia to contest PN leadership election". Maltatoday.com.mt. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  4. ↑ "Joe Zammit is Birkirkara's new President". www.sportinmalta.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  5. ↑ "Birkirkara president Adrian Delia says he's the outsider the PN needs for leader". Maltatoday.com.mt. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  6. ↑ "Updated - Birkirkara lawyer Adrian Delia to bid for the PN leadership". Timesofmalta.com. Retrieved 3 September 2017.
  7. ↑ Ames, Nick (15 July 2015). "Fabrizio Miccoli out to revive past glories with Malta minnows against West Ham". the Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  8. ↑ "Birkirkara snap up Miccoli". Timesofmalta.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  9. ↑ "inewsmalta.com". www.inewsmalta.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  10. ↑ "Miccoli jiffirma għal sena ma' Birkirkara - TVM". Tvm.com.mt. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  11. ↑ "Birkirkara 1-0 West Ham (3-5 on pens)". Bbc.com. 23 July 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  12. ↑ "West Ham speak highly of towering Mazzetti". Timesofmalta.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  13. ↑ "Adrian Delia turned down 2013, 2017 election candidature". Maltatoday.com.mt. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  14. ↑ "Updated - Adrian Delia to contest PN leadership election". Maltatoday.com.mt. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  15. ↑ "DELIA JRID IKUN KAP". Kullhadd.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  16. ↑ "Adrian Delia jirriżenja minn President ta' Birkirkara FC - NETnews". Netnews.com.mt. 28 June 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  17. ↑ "Birkirkara FC jikkonfermaw li Adrian Delia rriżenja minn President - TVM". Tvm.com.mt. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  18. ↑ "Chris Said and Adrian Delia submit PN leadership nominations". Timesofmalta.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  19. ↑ "'Delia Fever' Grips Nationalist Party's Disenchanted Supporters". Lovinmalta.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  20. ↑ "Adrian Delia wins PN leadership election with 52.7% of the vote - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  21. ↑ "Adrian Delia is the new PN Leader". Maltaunrepententant.com. 16 September 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  22. 1 2 3 "Adrian Delia Has Been PN Leader For 100 Days And Here's 11 Things He's Done So Far". Lovinmalta.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  23. ↑ "Leading Maltese political journalist killed by car bomb". Politico.eu. 16 October 2017. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  24. ↑ "Busuttil is new PN spokesman on good governance as Delia reshuffles team". Timesofmalta.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  25. ↑ "Delia vows PN government would give back 'stolen' money from energy over-billing". Timesofmalta.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  26. ↑ http://netnews.com.mt/2018/07/23/adrian-delia-jikteb-lill-avukat-generali-biex-jaghtih-kopja-shiha-tal-atti-tal-inkjesta-li-temm-il-magistrat-aaron-bugeja/
  27. ↑ https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180722/local/simon-busuttil-rejects-pms-calls-for-his-resignation-calling-them.685076?utm_source=tom&utm_campaign=top5&utm_medium=widget
  28. ↑ http://netnews.com.mt/2018/07/22/filmat-naccettaw-ir-rizultat-tal-inkjesta-filwaqt-li-nitolbu-li-tigi-ppubblikata-kollha/
  29. ↑ https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180722/local/watch-pn-piles-pressure-on-simon-busuttil-to-suspend-himself-from.685103
  30. 1 2 "The death of a crusading journalist rocks Malta". The Economist. 18 October 2017.
  31. ↑ ""Mhu se ninvestiga xejn għax m'hemmx x'tinvestiga" : Adrian Delia". Newsbook.com.mt. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  32. ↑ "I never made money from illicit activities - Adrian Delia". Timesofmalta.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
  33. ↑ "Updated: PN's Adrian Delia: 'I Am Not A Freemason'". Lovinmalta.com. Retrieved 9 June 2018.
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