[WATCH] Joseph Muscat does not exclude running for MEP: 'I cannot ignore the people'

Joseph Muscat is mulling a return to politics with a possible canddiature for June’s MEP election, although he has stopped short of confirming his candidacy in comments to MaltaToday.

On Friday morning, this newspaper asked Muscat whether he would contest this year’s MEP election following mass speculation and rumours which manifested in a number of social media posts on Facebook.

READ MORE: A repeat of 2017 in 2024? No thank you Joseph

On Thursday, Muscat’s possible comeback into politics was the talk of the town, as Labour stalwart Manuel Cuschieri posted a laudatory Facbeook post on Muscat, asking his followers whether they agreed that Muscat should return to the Labour fore as an MEP.

This prompted PN MEP candidate Peter Agius to call out Muscat in a video, saying, “I think everyone has the right to run for MEP, but should we trust someone who faces allegations of corruption and criminal liability?”

The domino effect eventually resulted in Labour MEP candidates voicing their support for Muscat should he decide to contest next June’s election.

Speaking to MaltaToday, Muscat claimed that Manuel Cuschieri’s post caught him off guard. “This is not a decision that is to be taken in a small amount of time because of a few Facebook messages.”

While saying that his focus was “elsewhere” Muscat did not rule out the possibility. “I don’t exclude it like I do not exclude dying tonight,” he teased.

However, he added: “I cannot ignore the people.” A return to the European Parliament was “not a priority”, he said but something he “will think about.”

MaltaToday also asked whether anyone from Labour’s administration had approached him. “Many people have spoken to me,” he said but when pressed as to whether he was asked to contest the election, he refused to answer.

“I talk to the (Labour) administration and people within the party on a regular basis,” he said.

Muscat and the Labour Party as a whole are currently holding their breath as they wait for the conclusion of a magisterial inquiry into his part in the fraudulent hospitals deal that may recommend criminal action against him.

When asked if a possible candidature might mean trouble for the PL, Muscat stated: “I don’t want to be a problem for the Labour Party.”

He continued by saying that while the inquiry is definitely on his mind, "it is part of his considerations."

“I’ve been considering these things during the past 24 hours because of the panic that I wasn’t expecting,” he added.