Labour leadership candidate Joseph Muscat said this evening that he wanted to see Malta as being "the best in the European Union."

Addressing a large meeting of party delegates, members and supporters from the first, eighth and ninth districts, Dr Muscat said he was not interested in the past which caused division, but a future which brought unity.

The Labour Party, he said, needed to have the courage to be confident of the future. The party should win the next general election not because the people felt the PN had been in power for too long, but because they had confidence in Labour.

Dr Muscat said that once the leadership contest was over, the MLP needed to close ranks. Should he be elected, he would offer central roles to the other candidates.

He said his aim was to build a movement of progressive and moderate forces who would work to make Malta the best in the European Union. Malta needed to achieve higher, European, standards in areas such as health care, where people deserved to be given the best care without having to wait long for it.

The people, he said, were fed up of politicians who did not deliver and did not take decisions.

The activity, at the MFCC at Ta' Qali, was addressed by, among others, former Foreign Minister and deputy leader George Vella and gynaecologist Mark Sant.

Mr Sant made the point that he was a labourite who had voted for EU membership but was now backing Dr Muscat as someone who knew how the EU institutions worked and had a long-term vision for the future.