The Labour Party's deputy leader Michael Falzon and the young MEP Joseph Muscat are being cited as potential front runners in the contest for leadership after Alfred Sant stepped down on Monday.

The party is still taking in this weekend's defeat which saw Labour lose to the Nationalist Party for the third consecutive time, even if by a wafer-thin majority of just over 1,500 votes.

The date for the extraordinary general conference in which the nominations for the new Labour leader will be made still has to be set by the parliamentary group and the party's national executive.

It is not likely that this will take very long, party sources told The Times. However, many are of the opinion that the party should take stock of the situation without rushing into such a crucial decision.

The failed resignation of Dr Sant in 2003, after the party lost the historic election that determined Malta's accession into the European Union, is now resurfacing within the party as a failed opportunity for Labour to win last Saturday's election.

Now, party sources said, the feeling is that Labour needs a profound rethink and someone who is able to carry out the changes needed. Although, being in his mid-30s, Dr Muscat is considered to be still a young candidate, many within the party are convinced he has what it takes.

Similarly, a lobby is being formed for the candidacy of Dr Falzon, who has had a longer period to establish himself as a party man.

There is a list of other candidates being floated, among them Evarist Bartolo, Charles Mangion, Karmenu Vella and even MEP Louis Grech.

Contacted yesterday afternoon, Mr Muscat confirmed that he had been approached to run for the post but said he has not yet committed himself. "I'm still thinking about it and considering it especially in light of familial considerations... I have two five month old children," he said.

"Whatever the case, I think these days are a period of reflection for the party. In fact, I believe that the contest for the leadership should not be a contest between names and faces but about vision and where we would like our country to be in the future."

Similarly, Dr Falzon confirmed the fact that he was approached but did not commit himself. "To be honest I have been at the counting hall till this afternoon and didn't really have the time to think about this. I would like to sound out the feeling within the party before committing myself."

The only more or less definitive response, in effect, came from Mr Bartolo who said that he was "willing" to offer his service to the party.

"Obviously, it would be up to the delegates. I think we need a solid alternative government especially in the current scenario where we have a government with such a slim relative majority," he said, stressing the need for the government in this scenario to lead in the interests of the entire nation and not for the minority that voted it into government.

He would not be drawn into making an analysis of the reasons that led to Labour's defeat, stressing that it was premature.

"The Labour Party needs to explain the fact that while there was a large number of people that did not want the Nationalist government, they were not willing to choose the Labour Party... I think it would be presumptuous of me to try to answer such a complex question at this stage..."

Dr Mangion said he was not excluding anything right now but stressed that at this stage he was more interested in making an assessment of the electoral result and, particularly, the turnout.

"Not only has the Nationalist Party won by a very thin majority but neither party got an absolute majority. I think this is a profound message that needs to be understood. So we need to concentrate on how to get the party back on its feet in the national interest and make it again able to be a majority party," he said.

The analysis of the result, in effect, might take precedence over the election of the leader, while the lobbying for the favourite contestants gains momentum.

In effect, while not excluding any possibility, Mr Vella stressed just this point.

"Yes I was approached by some people to contest but right now I think it's time for a serious reflection rather than hasty decisions. I don't have any ambitions to be the leader but I am willing, as I have always been, to offer my services in the interest of the party."