Axed deputy leader to represent Labour in delegation to foreign conference
After decrying Labour’s proximity to big business, Anglu Farrugia will represent PL in conference abroad, Muscat announces during fund-raiser.
The former Labour deputy leader Anglu Farrugia - unceremoniously axed from his position by Joseph Muscat over comments he made on the judiciary - will be representing the PL in a parliamentary conference abroad.
The stunning announcement was made by Labour leader Joseph Muscat this afternoon during the party's fund-raiser telethon, just a week after Farrugia accused Labour of being "too close" to construction developers.
Farrugia was asked to resign his post as deputy leader for parliamentary affairs by Muscat after a speech he gave during a Labour rally in which he questioned the integrity of a magistrate. The decision came just days after a disastrous encounter with his Nationalist counterpart Simon Busuttil on Xarabank, in which Farrugia's debating skills appeared to put the Labour campaign in peril.
Since then, Farrugia has gone on record describing Muscat's action as a "stab in the back", as well as revealing that he was not involved in the party's electoral campaign and that way back in September he was informed he would not be made deputy prime minister.
But Muscat, who on Saturday said in an interview on Radju Malta that the door was open to Farrugia, today announced that the former deputy leader will represent the party in parliamenbtary delegation in a foreign conference.
"Today I salute, from my heart, my friend Anglu Farrugia, who I know is passing from a difficult time, and I thank him from my heart for having accepted to represent Labour in a parliamentary delegation abroad. Labour's door is always open - this movement is a united team... we're all one, together."
His announcement was greeted with loud applause from the audience at the One TV studios where Labour is currently raising funds for its campaign.
The PN has so far managed to garner well over €500,000 in its fund-raiser this week.