Randolph Debattista has been sacked as chief executive of the Labour Party. 

Party sources told Times of Malta the decision had been taken by Prime Minister Robert Abela on Wednesday. 

He has been replaced by George Azzopardi.   

Attempts to contact Mr Debattista on Wednesday evening were unsuccessful. 

PL sources said the search was now on to find Mr Debattista a new job place, possibly within one of the State agencies. 

He was appointed to the position of CEO in 2017, replacing Gino Cauchi. 

Mr DeBattista had worked at Malta’s permanent representation office in Brussels and was previously employed in the PL’s communications office before 2013.

He had hit the headlines in December when he had uploaded what was widely interpreted as criticism of other senior party members.  

At the time he had said there was no place for criminals within Labour.

A few days later he had joined in the chorus of Facebook posters who raised their eyebrows at news that former OPM chief of staff Keith Schembri had told police investigators looking into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia that he had lost his phone.  

And, during the Labour race to elect a successor to former prime minister Joseph Muscat, he had thrown cold water on possible election rigging flagged by Dr Abela.