Jason Micallef has stepped down from his role as chairman of Labour’s One TV “for the duration of the campaign”, a party spokesman told The Times.
There was a conflict of interest between being in control of the party’s media machine and standing for election
Mr Micallef has had to make the move due to conflicts of interest that could arise from the fact that he is also a general election candidate. He will be replaced by head of programmes Ruth Vella.
It is not yet known whether anyone has been appointed to replace Mr Micallef until the election.
A former Labour Party general secretary, Mr Micallef will be contesting on the 11th district, which includes Mosta, Attard, Balzan and Mdina.
When he announced his intention to contest the election last August, former One TV chairman Alfred Mifsud had said he should be made to resign.
A former Mid-Med Bank chairman and ex-Labour Party strategist, Mr Mifsud had to resign as chairman of One TV in 2002 before announcing that he would be contesting on Labour’s list for the April 2003 election.
“In my case, the Labour leadership had insisted that there was a conflict of interest between being in control of the party’s media machine and standing for election. These were the rules and the rules should apply to everyone,” Mr Mifsud had said.
Labour leader Joseph Muscat had simply said “good sense should prevail”, while then Labour deputy leader Anġlu Farrugia said he had no problem with Mr Micallef staying on as chairman until the start of the official campaign.
Last January, Dr Muscat had said that Mr Micallef would not contest the election. This changed seven months later, with the Labour Party attributing this to the changing political situation.
Mr Micallef had said January’s announcement came about due to the possibility that there would be an early election. He accepted Dr Muscat’s proposal to use his experience in the running of Labour’s media during the campaign. But this did not happen because the PN clung to power, he said.
“After I spoke to Dr Muscat, we agreed that I could once again offer my services as a Labour candidate for the next general election.”
Mr Micallef is perhaps best remembered as the sidekick of former Labour leader Alfred Sant during the 2008 election which saw the party losing despite favourable polls in the weeks leading up to the campaign.