Updated 10.30pm – Added Dr Busuttil’s reaction
Simon Busuttil came under increasing pressure to quit his own party on Sunday evening, as the Nationalist Party administrative council unanimously called on him to suspend himself from the PN parliamentary group.
The council spent almost three hours locked inside a meeting at the party’s general headquarters, releasing a statement shortly after 9.30pm.
In it, council members echoed statements made by PN leader Adrian Delia earlier in the day and urged Dr Busuttil to make way “to allow the party to fight its battles effectively.”
“Nobody is bigger than the party. Nobody is bigger than the truth. Nobody is bigger than the country,” the council statement said.
Dr Busuttil replied on Facebook, saying he would “keep fighting for justice, even without Adrian Delia’s backing”.
The PN MP and former leader was stripped of his good governance portfolio earlier on Sunday but said he saw no reason to suspend himself from the PN’s parliamentary group, defying his party leader.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Dr Delia indicated that the ball was now in his predecessor’s court. “Dr Busuttil’s [earlier] statement was in reaction to me.
