Far-right leader Norman Lowell will instruct his supporters to vote for the Labour Party at the next general election if Joseph Muscat sticks to his promise to take concrete action against African immigrants.

With thousands of “closet supporters”, his Imperium Europa faction will back any party which promises tough action on immigration, Mr Lowell says in his latest Youtube propaganda message.

“At least the Leader of the Opposition is showing recently that his heart is beating in the right place... If he remains strong he will get our backing at the general election,” he says in a 26-minute rant peppered with attacks against black people.

In controversial statements recently, Dr Muscat praised Italy for defending its national interest by blocking a boat with 171 African immigrants on board from entering Lampedusa on April 7 and said Malta should do likewise.

Dr Muscat later shrugged off criticism that his words sounded like those of a far-right politician.

Clarifying his statements later, however, Dr Muscat said defending the national interest did not mean allowing people to drown.

“Talking about national interest and security should not be the monopoly of extreme right parties. We have to stop believing that whoever speaks of the national interest is racist or xenophobic,” the Labour leader said.

His views were echoed by Labour spokesman on immigration Michael Falzon during a conference on immigration organised by The Times last Wednesday.

The Labour leader’s comments, lambasted by the government, Alternattiva Demokratika and NGOs, were applauded by Mr Lowell and many who posted comments on online message boards.

“He (Muscat) can win because he will get the votes of the 4,000 who voted for us, and there’s a lot of hidden support – the army, police, the middle class, the youths who see black people working as they beg for a job,” Mr Lowell says.

Mr Lowell, who has already been convicted for inciting racial hatred, claims the two main political parties had agreed to keep mum on the immigration issue for the 2008 general election and the 2009 MEP elections.

If the parties adopted the same strategy for the 2013 election, Imperium Europa would contest the general election by fielding two candidates in each district, he said. “All we’re asking from the two clowns (who lead the) parties is to at least promise concrete action to stop all boats before they enter Malta – join a blockade with Italy and France or stop them (the immigrants) within 14 miles...

“They can arrest us and call us racists, but we don’t care.”