Joseph Muscat (pictured), a 34-year-old MEP from Malta, has put himself forward for the leadership of the Maltese Labour Party. The party recently failed to unseat Lawrence Gonzi's centre-right administration and is now in the throes of a post-election shake-up. There are five candidates for the party leadership, but Muscat is deemed to be in with a good chance. He was in Strasbourg on Tuesday attending his Parliamentary duties, but he said that if he wins the party contest (the vote is on 5 June) he will step down as an MEP.
At the weekend, Muscat was forced to deny that he had carved up a deal with party veteran and rival candidate George Abela, under which the older man would be leader for a while, before handing over to Muscat. Despite his protestations, a Maltese TV channel ran with the tale on Friday (18 April), prompting accusations from Muscat of dirty tricks by his centre-right opponents. The idea that a socialist MEP might make a deal to share a leadership position, so denying the electorate a meaningful vote, is clearly anathema to him – as no doubt it is to all socialist MEPs.
