Adrian Delia says he would have tried to prevent Bernard Grech's resignation had he known it was imminent, as he believed the electoral gap between the Labour Party and the Nationalists was much smaller than a poll had predicted.
"If I knew he was going to resign, I would have tried to stop him, because I had seen surveys around that same time that showed the gap was 24,000 votes, not 40,000," he said.
For this reason, Delia said he would not be surprised if the next poll showed a 20,000 to 24,000 gap, since he had already seen those figures before the leadership election.
"I didn't know he was about to resign, and I was in hospital. I would have told him to stay on if I knew," Delia told Times of Malta in an interview.
Grech resigned in June shortly after a survey revealed Labour would win by a massive 39,000 votes if the election were to be held then.
His resignation sparked a leadership race between Delia and 30-year-old Gozitan lawyer Alex Borg, which the latter won by a mere 44 votes.
Despite the narrow margin of defeat, Delia said he was not irritated, but rather disappointed. He drew a football analogy, saying that losing a final after a long winning streak would be irritating, but this contest was different.
"This was about which person was better for the cause in voters' eyes," he explained, adding the outcome shows that voters want a combination of his experience and Borg's youthfulness.
Delia said he was touched by a personal note of support from his partner, lawyer Cynthia Galea. He revealed that after the result came in, she told him: "You didn't lose".
"It was very powerful and meaningful coming from the person I love. It's a show of maturity and support."
Delia also addressed a cryptic Facebook post he made last week in which he stated, "What's good is good, but let's not bless what's wrong".
When asked if the post was referring to Borg's victory or the gay pride event in Valletta, Delia clarified it was not related to either of them.
He explained that he posted the comment on the eve of the first day of parliament as a general comment about how politics should be done, reflecting his personal beliefs and how he intends to conduct himself as an MP.
"At this stage my only interest is that we do everything we can to unite to overcome a government that's swayed too far off the right path," he said.
Delia was asked whether he would pursue legal action on the Fortina deal like he did with the hospitals concession - a court case he had won in 2023.
This time, it's different, he said. Delia was leader of the party back when he instituted the case, and he cannot make decisions like those alone now, but pledged to put up a fight whenever the need arises.
He said the contracts should be rescinded, not just for the money owed to the government, but because the evidence shows the deal may have been fraudulent.
"It's not enough for government to get the money it is owed. If there was fraud, the deal must be rescinded and political responsibility shouldered," he insisted.
Last Monday, a National Audit Office (NAO) report found that the plot of land in Sliema that was conceded to the Fortina Group for €8.1 million should have been valued at €21 million but was not after a top Lands Authority official "suppressed" a higher valuation.
But Delia said the report did more than just point out varying valuations; it revealed that a valuation was hidden from parliament, rendering the parliamentary decision-making process invalid.
He drew a parallel to the Vitals deal, where a similar case of falsehood led to the contracts being declared null and void. He pointed to the fact that in the Fortina case, a minister admitted to the auditor general that he was aware of the hidden valuation, placing the responsibility squarely on the government's shoulders.
He said the report has given the government "enough information to move forward on this case", and vowed to "strongly attack the government, wherever need be", to ensure the report "is accepted, adopted and taken to its fullest extent".