Reno Calleja will not contest election

Former Labour minister and MP Reno Calleja said yesterday he will not be contesting the general election as he is happy in his role as president of the Malta-China Friendship Society.

Mr Calleja was elected on behalf of the Malta Labour Party in the fifth electoral district in 1976, 1981, 1987 and 1992. He lost his seat in 1996 and neither was he successful in his 1998 and 2003 electoral bids. "I was under tremendous pressure by constituents to contest but, finally, I decided to hang up my boots," he said. He would, however, do everything he could to ensure a Labour victory. "I strongly believe that Malta needs a change."

Mr Calleja served as Minister of Tourism between 1981 and 1983. He was Malta's ambassador to the Council of Europe from 1978 to 1981 and served as chairman of the Public Transport Authority between 1997 and 1998.