[WATCH] Daniel Micallef offers guarded apology for Labour wrongs in reaction to Coleiro Preca

Daniel Micallef has offered a guarded apology for the wrong done by Labour government officials, insisting their actions did not represent the party.

The Labour Party deputy leader was reacting to an appeal by former president Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca on Sunday for the PL to apologise to its supporters and the people.

“I took note of what Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca said. The Labour Party has always been humble and I have no problem apologising to those who feel hurt by what happened,” Micallef told MaltaToday.

He insisted the actions of “the few” should not taint the good done by the party over the past few years.

He was taking questions after giving the party’s reaction to the White Paper on the legalisation of cannabis for personal use.

“The behaviour of the few is not a reflection of the genuine activism of many within the Labour Party. We will build on the good and reform where we did bad and the last months were a demonstration of this with clear decisions being taken,” he insisted.

When it was pointed out that ‘the few’, were people who occupied senior positions within the party, Micallef insisted the PL will not shelter criminality.

“It is irrelevant who these people are. They are not a reflection of the thousands who make up this party. The bad will not find shelter in the Labour Party,” he said.

Coleiro Preca, a former popular Labour minister, said the PL had to carry out a soul-searching exercise in the wake of criminal charges that have been filed against several people, including Keith Schembri, the once powerful chief of staff to former prime minister Joseph Muscat.

She said the PL must apologise to all those who supported the party and the country at large.

READ ALSO: The questions we need to ask inside Labour - Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca

Coleiro Preca’s words are a reflection of other voices close to the PL that have asked for a serious reflection on the Muscat legacy and the criminality that was allowed to take root in the highest offices of government.

Asked about long-standing rumours that the Panama company Egrant was a reference to ‘election grant’, Micallef said he had no such indication.

The latest rumours were fuelled by the way Schembri spelt Egrant in a recent Facebook post – he wrote it ‘E-grant’ – leading some to suggest it may have been a surreptitious message.