Former Labour general secretary Jason Micallef yesterday said he was made a scapegoat after last year’s general election even though there were four others in the strategy team, including his temporary successor Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi.

Mr Micallef told The Sunday Times: “I was upset that I got all the blame and he (Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi) got away scot-free. Can you tell me why he was never criticised?” Speaking publicly for the first time since he was asked to step down from the post, Mr Micallef also said he was considering contesting the next general election.

Mr Micallef added that if he was not good enough to be general secretary, nor was Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi. The two have been working together in the Labour Party’s executive for the past six years.

He said Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi “lied” when he appeared on current affairs TV programme Dissett last Tuesday.

“He (Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi) said it was his choice not to contest the (general secretary’s) post in January. He lied. I had made that condition,” Mr Micallef told The Sunday Times.

Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi recently announced that he would not run for the post of general secretary during Labour’s January general conference, in spite of mounting speculation to the contrary.

It is understood that while Mr Micallef’s relationship with leader Joseph Muscat was rumoured to be turning sour, Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi had already started to talk to party delegates – a move that irked the former general secretary.

Mr Micallef said it was still “early days” to say who could replace him permanently, but he predicted there would be many twists and turns before the end of January.

When asked to comment on his relationship with Dr Muscat, Mr Micallef said diplomatically: “He is still my leader. I will remain a firm supporter of the party.”

When pressed further, he said the relationship with Dr Muscat was still “good”.

It is an open secret that Mr Micallef together with his supporters and delegates are still unhappy with the party’s decision to remove him as general secretary.

But when asked if the decision was anti-democratic he declined to comment.

He also promised that there would “definitely” come a time when he would return to “the core of the party”.

Mr Micallef said he was overwhelmed by the support he got when the news was announced that he was stepping down.

He pointed out that after Labour’s defeat last year he was given a big vote of confidence by delegates.

“That’s what interests me because those are the people who know the work I did.”

Mr Micallef has never contested a general election.

But he has a very strong base in Mosta because his uncle, Freddie Micallef, and father-in-law George Gatt, were former Labour MPs from the town.

Mr Micallef said he did not feel his position as head of One Productions was a weak one, and that he was looking forward to this “big challenge”.

When asked what he thought of Labour’s new adviser, former PN candidate Marisa Micallef, he said: “I have often written and commented on what I think of Marisa. I don’t have anything to say at this stage.”

He added, however, that he stood by what he said in the past about the woman who used to criticise him heavily in her anti-Labour columns.

When contacted, Dr Zrinzo Azzopardi said he stood by what he said on television that “there were no conditions”.

cperegin@timesofmalta.com