The Labour Party executive will meet to discuss changing the statute to allow MPs to contest for the deputy leader role on Friday. 

This comes only the morning after Jason Micallef dropped out of the race and party support mobilised behind MEP Alex Agius Saliba to take on the role. 

The party said in a statement that the PL's executive was holding an extraordinary general conference to discuss several amendments to the party statute being proposed, including allowing for the post of deputy leader of party affairs to be contested by a member of parliament. 

Presently, the party statute prevents members of of the PL's parliamentary group from contesting for the post. 

Things heated up in the race for the deputy leader post yesterday evening when Agius Saliba teased possibly contesting for the role and VCA chairman Jason Micallef announced he would no longer be running for the post only minutes after. 

Micallef's short-lived campaign came to a close in five days, after both he and Agius Saliba said they had met with Prime Minister Robert Abela to discuss the issue. 

Micallef initially came in guns blazing and advocating for a return to the ideas and energy the party had in its early days in government. 

However, he received a less than enthusiastic response from Abela, who called on delegates not to "turn back the clock" when voting on a new deputy leader. 

Elections for the role of deputy leader and other administrative positions in the party at the general conference between September 13 and 15. 

Nominations for the roles will open on Friday, August 23 and close on August 25.