Gino Cauci and Joe Chetcuti have withdrawn from the race for the post of general secretary of the Labour Party, it was announced this evening.
The election is to be held on August 4-5.
They said in a joint statement that many party delegates had expressed concern that having so many candidates for the election could prevent the change the party needed from actually happening.
The two candidates said that out of loyalty to the party, they were withdrawing from the race.
In contrast to the race for the party leadership, where a candidate has to win an absolute majority to be declared the winner, the election for the post of general secretary is decided on the basis of which candidate wins most votes, even if that is not an absolute majority.
The remaining candidates are incumbent Jason Micallef and Keith Grech, Alfred Grixti and Joe Vella Bonnici.