Robert Abela has left the door wide open for Joseph Muscat to run in the European Parliament elections, saying, "Why should I say no to him?”
The prime minister made his comments hours after his predecessor said he would not rule out standing as an MEP candidate for Labour.
“Joseph Muscat must make his own consideration about whether he should be a candidate for the Labour Party or not,” Abela said in an interview to be published in full on Saturday with Andrew Azzopardi on RTK 103.
“But if his answer is yes, why should I say no to him?”
Azzopardi asked the prime minister whether he would embrace Muscat as a candidate with the Labour Party, should he wish to contest.
Abela added that rumours that his relationship with Muscat is somewhat frosty are untrue and that he regularly communicated with his predecessor on various issues.
“All those who are trying to shove obstacles between us, those obstacles aren’t there,” he said.
Earlier on Friday Muscat said that he could not exclude running for the upcoming MEP election, but insisted this is not a frivolous decision that could be taken lightly.
The prospect of political comeback for the former prime minister was first mooted by Labour pundit Manwel Cuschieri, who asked his followers whether they wanted to see Muscat’s return to local politics by running for the European Parliament election.
“This is not a decision that is to be taken quickly because of a few Facebook messages,” Muscat said, adding that his focus was not on contesting the MEP election but “on other things”.
However, when asked directly whether he ruled it out, Muscat said he could not rule out anything in life.
"I cannot exclude that I will die tonight and neither can I exclude that I will live for another 100 years," he said.
"I cannot say what will happen. It was not on my priority list because nowadays I have my own private practice but on the other hand, I cannot ignore the people. My friend Manwel Cuschieri put spokes in my wheel, in a friendly way obviously."
Muscat is currently awaiting the outcome of an ongoing magisterial inquiry into the “fraudulent” hospital deal and whether it will recommend criminal action against him.