The Labour Party has put together a “formidable” team of 86 candidates who are working together to achieve one aim: the change in direction that the country needs, Labour Leader Joseph Muscat said yesterday.

He said the team came from all walks of life but got together to bring about national unity. Labour, he said, had a good mix between quantity and quality as well as a mix of veterans and newcomers. “This team is of superior quality.”

Speaking at an event at the Bay Arena in St Julian’s, Dr Muscat said the candidates got together to achieve national unity “because the Labour party does not look at faces”.

“We want to remove the concept of tribal politics and introduce the concept that we can work together even though we disagree,” he said.

Dr Muscat said 48 per cent of the candidates are contesting for the first time, 17 per cent of them are under 35 and 14 per cent are women.

He said Labour’s team would all work on the party’s electoral manifesto, approved on Wednesday, which has 20 guiding principles and 836 proposals.

Replying to questions, Dr Muscat said the candidates had been screened by a selection board set up by the party’s executive both in terms of their criminal record and their beliefs and values.

“Whoever applied was asked to appear for a selection board and had to bring along a copy of their criminal record sheet. Then they were asked a series of questions relating to their beliefs and their values. One of the issues asked was about homophobia because there is no space for homophobes in our party. We also asked questions on their professional activities,” he said.

Asked whether they were also screened with regard to their position on abortion, in the light of a statement made by a candidate on Facebook regarding being pro-choice and pro-abortion, Dr Muscat reiterated that the party was “pro-life and anti-abortion”. He added that no one would be censored.

Asked by The Times whether all of its promises were doable since many of them depended on interest from the private sector, Dr Muscat said he was “sure” that the private industry would be willing to invest in the projects Labour was pushing.

Businesses’ main complaint, he said, was that the Government was suffocating them, but a Labour government would be ready to work with them, encouraging them to invest and be creative.

He said he was proud that Labour was pro-business because this also meant that it was pro-jobs and pro-workers.

The party, he said, had a clear roadmap with 20 priorities, with proposals which were “concrete and costed” and which would achieve economic growth.