[WATCH] Asked about Joseph Muscat, Alex Agius Saliba says he’s nobody’s proxy

Labour MEP Alex Agius Saliba has dismissed concerns that he will not have time to assume the role of deputy leader in the Labour Party while working as a europarliamentarian in Brussels.

Speaking outside Labour Party headquarters on Friday, Agius Saliba said that he has always managed to maintain contact with his constituency in Malta while being an MEP and vice president of the S&D group in the European Parliament.

“Three out of seven days a week, for the past five years, I have been in complete contact with people in Malta. I will keep this contact whether I’m a deputy leader, an MEP, or an activist like everyone else here,” he said.

He said the deputy leader position is not a full-time role, and what’s important is that there is a functioning team around the Labour Party administration and within its structures that can push the party forward.

Alex Agius Saliba is not yet in the running to become deputy leader of party affairs within the Labour Party. As things stand, the role cannot be held by a sitting parliamentarian, whether in Malta or Brussels.

However, that could change on Friday night, with the party holding an extraordinary general conference to change its statute and allow elected politicians to take on the role.

If the statute change is approved, it would be the third change to the role.

Agius Saliba said this week that he is in favour of the role being held by a politician, suggesting that he may submit a nomination for the position. When asked about a possible deputy leadership, he declined to comment.

“So far, me being deputy leader is an impossibility. The statute denies me that possibility, and I cannot comment on what could happen a few hours from now,” he said.

‘I’m nobody’s proxy’

Alex Agius Saliba came out in full support of Joseph Muscat during the MEP election campaign, during which Muscat was charged with corruption connected to the Vitals hospitals scandal.

This move has led people to believe that his election to deputy leader could be a way of appeasing Muscat and his supporters within the party.

When asked about this, he said he’s “no one’s proxy”.

“I’m only the proxy of those who elected me, of the Labour Party leadership, its members and delegates that have always put their faith in me.”

He also ruled out a possible move to local politics, saying his priority is to keep the strong vote he received in the European election.

Metsola vote: ‘PM never imposed on us’

When a vote was taken last month in the European Parliament to elect its president, Nationalist MEP Roberta Metsola secured the vote by a record majority.

However, Agius Saliba and fellow Labour MEP Daniel Attard abstained in the vote, despite Labour leader Robert Abela taking a stand in support of her election.

When asked on this, Agius Saliba said Abela never forced them to vote a certain way. “I kept consistent with what I said before the European election,” he said. “I accepted the Prime Minister’s opinion, but he never imposed on us.”

Jason Micallef’s ‘very happy’ with his new role

Last week, former Labour secretary-general Jason Micallef expressed an interest in contesting the Labour Party deputy leadership, raising eyebrows as to whether his nomination was being pushed by the party’s former leader Joseph Muscat.

However, following talks with Abela and Agius Saliba, Micallef said that he will no contest the election and was instead appointed a “special delegate” by the party to oversee the implementation of its electoral manifesto.

Micallef did not say whether or not he agrees with the statute change being proposed for the deputy leadership, insisting that the party will discuss the matter first before taking any stand.

He also said that he’s “very happy” with his new role as a special delegate. He said the party will renew itself again and strengthen itself so as to win the next general election again.