Labour fields nine MEP candidates and Joseph Muscat is not one of them

The Labour Party is fielding nine candidates for the European Parliament election and the list does not include incumbent Cyrus Engerer and former prime minister Joseph Muscat.

In a Facebook post, the PL shared a photo of the nine candidates taking a selfie at the Naxxar counting hall where they went to submit their nominations together.

The group photo puts paid to the speculation fuelled primarily by Labour propagandist Manuel Cuschieri that Muscat would be a candidate. On Wednesday, Muscat would not confirm nor deny whether he would submit his nomination.

Labour MEPs Alfred Sant and Josianne Cutajar had announced they will not be contesting but Engerer has until now not confirmed his intentions.

Earlier this week, Engerer endorsed the new political platform Il-Kollettiv, which has the intention of contesting the next general election but not the upcoming EP and local elections.

The PL’s candidates are incumbent MEP and vice president of the S&D Alex Agius Saliba, economist Clint Azzopardi Flores, financial analyst Steve Ellul, former Mtarfa mayor and lawyer Daniel Attard, Gudja mayor and lawyer Sara Marija Vella Gafa, former MEP Claudette Abela Baldacchino, trade unionists Jesmond Marshall and Jesmond Bonello, and Gozitan Thomas Bajada.

Polls have placed Agius Saliba as the clear frontrunner for the PL.

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