Labour MEP Edward Scicluna said today that he intends to contest the forthcoming general election.

He made the announcement on Norman Hamilton's TV discussion programme Bla Agenda, saying he had been invited by Joseph Muscat to join the labour team for the coming elections. This, he said, was a new challenge, but Labour needed a strong economic team at a time when the life of the nation was dominated by events in the EU.

Prof Scicluna was elected to the European Parliament on his first attempt in 2009, winning 24,574 first count, the second highest among the Labour candidates.

Election to the Maltese parliament will mean that Prof Scicluna will have to choose which seat to give up, since no one can serve in both the national parliament and the European Parliament.

The only other MEP to have opted for domestic politics after serving in the EP was Joseph Muscat, who resigned his seat in order to be co-opted to the Maltese parliament shortly after he became Labour leader. He took the seat that was given up by Joseph Cuschieri, who subsequently contested the European elections and is to take Malta's sixth seat in the EP.

Former Labour minister John Attard Montalto resigned his seat in the Maltese parliament after successfully contesting the first EP elections to be held in Malta. 

Edward Scicluna is a former head of the Department of Economics at the University of Malta. 

He also served as chairman of the Malta Council of Economic and Social Development (MCESD), chairman of the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA), Electoral Commissioner and a director of the Central Bank.

Prof Scicluna is vice president of the European Parliament's economic and monetary committee, among other positions.