BRUSSELS — A path has opened up for European Parliament President Roberta Metsola to vie for the Maltese premiership after Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech resigned on Tuesday. 

Ahead of national elections in March 2027, pressure is mounting within the Nationalist Party to appoint its most popular politician to face off against Prime Minister Robert Abela and wrest the government away from the center-left Labour Party after 12 years tainted by corruption scandals. 

“There will be pressure on Roberta to come over for sure, I believe as European Parliament president she can be the leader of the party. It is her mission to be as neutral as possible, but she has already been highly involved in party politics,” said an official for the center-right Nationalist Party. 

“She is seen as the solution because she is accepted by most factions within the party, her track record and policies have been resounding,” added the official, granted anonymity to discuss internal party matters.

In Malta, the party leaders from the two largest political forces — Labour and the Nationalists — are traditionally the candidates for prime minister. Grech, who resigned after months of negative polls, said it was time for a “new chapter” and a new leader in the party.

“Whoever he or she is, they will have my absolute support,” Grech said, insinuating through pronoun choice that Metsola could be in the race.

Mary Anne Lauri, a leading figure of the Nationalist Party, wrote on Facebook shortly after the announcement: “Will Roberta take on the post?”

According to a poll by the Times of Malta in February 2025, almost half of Nationalist Party voters want Metsola to be party leader — 15 percentage points more than for former party leader Grech.

Current Prime Minister Abela said mid-May he would consider calling a snap election if the Nationalist Party changed leadership.

Roberta Metsola did not immediately reply to a request for comment on whether she would return to Maltese politics.

Metsola, who was catapulted to the Parliament’s leadership at the relatively young age of 43 in January 2022, was reelected with a wide, cross-party majority in July 2024. 

Her term will end in mid-January 2027, with speculation swirling about the up-and-coming politician’s next steps. She has repeatedly avoided answering questions regarding a possible national political comeback.

An ambitious leader politically groomed into the intricacies of Brussels, Metsola was briefly floated as a candidate for the European Commission presidency after the EU election in June 2024, when her European People’s Party came out on top — but was then quickly dismissed as lacking government experience. 

To reach the top of Brussels’ political food chain heading the EU executive or European Council, observers believe she would need to return to Malta to become prime minister and sit at the table of European leaders, after a few EU electoral cycles.