Labour should be a moderate and progressive political force if it wants to be an effective opposition, Gavin Gulia, who is running for the post of deputy leader for party affairs, said yesterday using the main buzzwords peddled by the recently-elected party leader.

Joseph Muscat, who was placed at the helm of the party by Labour's delegates last week, had been stressing throughout his leadership campaign that he intended creating a coalition of moderate and progressive people.

Like his colleague, Chris Cardona, who is running for the post of deputy leader for parliamentary affairs, Dr Gulia aligned himself firmly to Dr Muscat's vision yesterday. He said he agreed fully with Dr Muscat's vision for this coalition, insisting that this would be the most effective way to make Labour a strong opposition but also an automatic choice for the electorate.

He expressed his satisfaction at the support he had been given by a number of delegates in drafting a plan for internal structural reform. The plan, he said, has been communicated to all the delegates and the different branches within the party over the past days.

He said that the proposals being made by the delegates reflect the message sent by Dr Muscat.

Dr Gulia said his priority was to bring back to the MLP those Labourites who, according to the analysis report on the general election defeat, had not voted for the party in the last election.

He said he was hopeful that Dr Muscat's clear vision and his leadership style would address the aspirations of Labour supporters as well as of the Maltese in general.