Cyrus Engerer will not contest MEP elections, pledges to work to bring change in Malta

Engerer said that he will remain active, as he believes that Malta needs change. Among other things, Engerer stated that he wants to see a country, “where the honest business person works in a level playing field, where hard work leads to success.”

The MEP also highlighted his wish to see the environment become a fundamental right, a cause championed by the PN’s Darren Carabott. Engerer called for the country to implement every recommendation from the Daphne Caruana Galizia and Jean Paul Sofia public inquiries.

On Thursday, Engerer announced that he has joined political platform Il-Kollettiv.

He thanked Robert Abela as he noted that the Labour leader still wishes to see Engerer on Labour’s ballot. For months, rumours about Engerer’s disinterest to contest the next EP election swirled. In January, Abela said that he “definitely” wants Engerer on the Labour ticket. 

In his Facebook post on Saturday, he emphasised that as an MEP, he had tried to "do things differently," inviting activists and sex workers to Brussels and planning an event that brought together members of the most marginalised groups in society, including drug addicts, transgender people, former prisoners, the homeless, and sex workers.

Engerer, who was in the past a member of the Nationalist Party, and who has served as PN’s Sliema Deputy Mayor, later defected to the Labour Party shortly before the 2013 general election. 

He had subsequently stood for the 2014 European Parliament elections with Labour, only to withdraw his candidacy when a court of appeal sentenced him to two years in prison, suspended for two years, after he was found guilty of revenge porn against a former boyfriend.