Joseph Muscat once again sidestepped rumours of his return to politics, telling supporters at a rally they should focus on going out to vote rather than whether he intends to stand for June's European elections. 

The former prime minister spoke at a campaign rally for Labour MEP Alex Aguius Saliba on Saturday evening, at arguably the largest political event he has addressed since stepping down in January 2020. 

Greeted by a sea of Labour Party supporters, Muscat did not dwell too long on public speculation of his return to political office. 

"The question is not whether Joseph is running or not," Muscat said, interrupted by loud applause and cheering before he could finish the sentence.

"The question is whether you will go out to vote."

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

In recent weeks, the political landscape has been rife with speculation that the former PM might make a bid to run for the European Parliament elections in June.

Muscat has yet to decidedly put the matter to bed, saying last month that hadn't made his mind up about it yet. Muscat resigned in January 2020 following the fallout from the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder investigations. 

The former PM dedicated much of his 25-minute speech to defending his legacy, citing a laundry list of achievements made by the Labour government in its 11-year tenure.

"They (PN) said 11 years ago we would not be able to stop increasing taxes, they said we could not reduce energy bills and we did," he said.

"They said we would have high unemployment and now they complain that there are too many foreigners because there are so many jobs available."

The PL government also introduced marriage equality and IVF to Malta.

Regularly interrupted by chants of "Joseph, Joseph," Muscat also said he was being unfairly targeted as corrupt and stepped aside from the government to allow the country to move forward.

Photo: Matthew Mirabelli

Likely referring to a magisterial inquiry zooming in on suspicious payments that he received from a company linked to the former concessionaires of the hospitals deal, Muscat insisted he has not been intimidated by the scrutiny.

"I'm not afraid to go to court or even prison, they used to threaten Labourites that they would go to hell, so why should I be afraid of prison?" he said.

"They tried to humiliate me by sending police officers to search my daughter's bedroom."

If anyone came looking again they would not find anything, Muscat said.

Despite resigning amidst widespread political turmoil and clouds of corruption hanging over his head, Muscat has remained popular with the Labour Grassroots.  

According to an internal party poll, the PL would win June’s MEP elections by more than 40,000 votes over the PN if Muscat were on its ballot sheet. 

At least 20,000 Labour voters who claimed to be planning to abstain said they would go to the polls if the former prime minister were to contest, the poll found.

Saturday's event drew in large crowds, with people spilling out of the marque in Triton Square. 

The crowd, waving Labour banners and Maltese flags, were enthusiastic at Agius Saliba's presence, but the night's largest cheers were decidedly reserved for Muscat. 

In his speech, Agius Saliba encouraged the crowd to vote for the Labour Party.

He said he would fight for Maltese interests at the European Parliament, adding that he and his Labour colleagues are working in the interest of peace and not war.

Ministers Silvio Schembri and Ian Borg, as well as former prime minister Alfred Sant also spoke at the event.