More Labour mayors seeking to dissuade Sant against leaving

A number of other Labour mayors are planning to sign a letter asking opposition leader Alfred Sant to reconsider his decision to step down as leader when the party holds its extraordinary general conference in a few weeks' time.

Thirteen of the over 20 Labour mayors signed a handwritten letter sent to Dr Sant, drawn up on Monday evening after he announced on Super One radio he did not intend to contest the leadership.

However, no doors have been closed: Dr Sant did not resign and the party has not yet issued any official declaration that he would be doing so.

Fgura mayor Anthony DeGiovanni said that a number of mayors who knew each other well had been in touch with each other and spontaneously decided to pen the note to Dr Sant.

"We didn't have everyone's contact details, but just got in touch with the ones we knew," he said.

The letter was duly sent, and the party on Wednesday decided to announce it to the media, along with Dr Sant's reply that he would do "whatever was in the party's best interest".

"I think it was a responsible reply. He always put others' interests first. He is leaving the final decision up to the democratic structures within the party," Mr DeGiovanni said.

Anthony Valvo of Xghajra, one of the mayors who did not sign it, said he had been unable to get there in time to do so, adding that a number of his colleagues had by then already gone to Gozo or were on holiday after the gruelling political campaigns but that they were now planning to send a letter of their own, appealing to him to stay.

"I told them over the phone they could put my name down on the original letter but they stuck to those people who could sign it," he said.

Hamrun mayor Luciano Busuttil also said he would have signed the original letter had he known about it.

"What the party needs is a bit of self-criticism. It is not to point fingers at one person," he said.