Cyrus Engerer, who decided not to contest the EP elections after he was given a two year suspended jail term for distributing porn yesterday, this evening addressed a Labour Party activity during which he thanked the Labour Party for its trust in him and said the Nationalist Party should be ashamed of hurting his family because he spoke about what he believed.

Mr Engerer thanked Labour for the support he said he was given "during this difficult juncture" and called the Nationalist Party "homophobic" for not voting in favor of civil unions.

The PN, he said to applause, should also be ashamed of hurting many other families and instead of showing remorse the party was now being more arrogant.

Everyone made mistakes, Mr Engerer said, but the PL led by example and that was why he was a member of this movement.

“We shoulder responsibility... While the Nationalist Party spent nearly two years clinging two powers instead of not having a Parliamentary majority, I took my decision not to contest in just one day.”

The Prime Minister, he said, left the decision up to him but he did not want to allow people to cast a bad light on the PM or the Labour Party so he decided to opt out.

“I will work for the PL to win the EP election. I invite you to be with me to continue convincing people to vote for the PL,” he said to applause.

Photo: Jason Borg

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat praised Cyrus for opting to place the movement above himself and said this decision made him a new soldier of steel and the Labour family would always be with him showing its solidarity as one movement.

Mr Engerer was persecuted as were his mother and father. But this government left institutions to work in absolute independence and he was proud of this. If there were those who thought this development would develop a wedge between Mr Engerer and the movement, between the old Labourites and the new ones, they were proved wrong.

“What Cyrus did today... with what he said, he showed that if there were any differences between the old and the new this has now been repealed for good. With its behaviour, the Opposition has united this movement even more than it ever was. It united us as siblings who loved and never deceived each other,” he said to applause.”

Dr Muscat said he was proud of the movement, he had learnt a lot from people with different experiences. He was thought to abandon his prejudices. What right did the political class have to tell people how to live their private personal life and that was why he fought before and after the election for full equality.

Equality, the Prime Minister said, was not an a la carte menu. It was not something one could abstain upon. One either believed in equality or denied it and he was proud to lead a movement with a 39-Parliamentary team who were all united in the same beliefs and together said yes to equality.

"I tell Cyrus your place is here. I left the decision up to you because I was convinced you would take the right decision. And you did," Dr Muscat said as he appealed to the people to turn up to vote for Labour candidates in the May 24 election.