Mediation which had been taken place between the Malta Union of Midwives and Nurses and former council members stopped prematurely, the union said this morning.

Last month, eight former council members of the union started raising a petition to hold an extraordinary general meeting to change the union's leadership.

The former members, led by Tommy Dimech, were unhappy with how the MUMN was being led and they were calling on president Paul Pace and general secretary Colin Galea to resign.

In the mediation, the union was being represented by Mr Galea and the former council members by Mr Dimech.

The MUMN said that the mediation was not stopped by the union or by Mr Dimech but by others who were of a different opinion.

Mr Dimech and Mr Galea had met to try to find solutions. Meetings were cordial and both were cooperating to find a compromise in the interest of union members.

The MUMN said it has decided that since Mr Dimech was no longer going to be involved in the mediation, it was not willing to continue discussing with someone else.

It said it was involved in separate mediation with former honorary president Rudolph Cini for an agreement to be reached over an issue which had cropped up a few weeks ago.

Mr Cini had been removed from his honorary post after he called for his successor's resignation over hard-hitting directives, which many felt were irresponsible.

The union said this was the last time it was making its position public on these matters.