Alex Agius Saliba rejected questions about whether he was a "proxy" of Joseph Muscat, insisting he will continue to push in the interests of the Labour Party.
“I am no one's proxy, the only proxy I am is of the people who voted for me, of the leader of the Labour Party and the members and delegates of the party who have always shown their faith in me,” the MEP said on Friday.
The MEP is known to be close to the former prime minister, and was among the first to be endorsed by Muscat during the European elections campaign.
Agius Saliba was speaking to journalists on Friday afternoon, ahead of an extraordinary general conference at the Labour Party headquarters.
The conference is set to discuss whether the party should allow parliamentary group members to contest for the role of deputy leader of party affairs, likely paving the way for Agius Saliba to take on the role.
Presently, the party statute prevents members of the PL's parliamentary group from contesting for the post.
“I will be pushing for the interest of the party, and its members to ensure that the Labour Party will once again win the next general election with a huge majority,” he said.
‘Labour Party is renewing itself’ - Jason Micallef
Jason Micallef said the Labour Party is renewing itself to ensure it will win the next general election again.
He was speaking a day after being appointed as the administration’s 'special delegate on the implementation of the electoral manifesto'.
He would not comment about Robert Abela's veiled remarks that he did not wish Micallef to contest the post of deputy leader for party affairs.
Instead, Micallef told reporters he feels privileged that the prime minister said he felt he still had a lot to contribute to the party.
Asked repeatedly whether he was a “proxy” of Joseph Muscat, Micallef did not reply.
Rosianne Cutajar, who rejoined the Labour Party's parliamentary group earlier on Friday, also attended the meeting.
When asked if she apologised to Abela, she did not reply.
Friday's meeting comes after the party lost its deputy leader Daniel Micallef, while several resignations in the office of the prime minister have also been announced in recent days.
Robert Abela's former chief of staff Glenn Micallef resigned in June, before being nominated as Malta's pick for European Commissioner.
Aleander Balzan, one of the PM's policy advisors, also resigned last week, followed by the PL's head of communications Ronald Vassallo, who resigned on Thursday.