Sitting Labour MPs will not be allowed to contest the party deputy leadership post vacated by Chris Cardona and the eventual deputy leader will be disqualified from running for a seat in parliament for two years after leaving that position. 

The motion to introduce the new rules was unanimously agreed by the party executive on Monday evening, the PL said in a statement. 

Ensuring that the deputy leader for party affairs is not an MP, and time barring holders of that post from contesting general elections for a two-year period, effectively returns the PL rules to their pre-2016 state.

Back then, the party had abolished those rules, paving the way for Konrad Mizzi's short-lived stint in that role. 

The rules were kept in place for the subsequent contest, in which Cardona pipped fellow MP Owen Bonnici to the post. 

Cardona resigned on June 17, after Prime Minister Robert Abela asked the former minister to step aside. 

He had been under pressure to resign after he was named in court in connection with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. He has denied all involvement in the assassination. 

The PL published his brief letter of resignation on Monday.