Joseph Muscat yesterday recognised that "membership won" in the 2003 EU referendum.

In different circumstances this should hardly qualify as an admission but given the reticence of Labour's former leader to dwell on the matter, it constitutes the first such acknowledgement by a high-ranking MLP official.

Speaking on the PBS current affairs programme Dissett, Labour leadership hopeful Dr Muscat said that "with hindsight, considering what happened later in the general election, membership won".

He was being quizzed on his role in Labour's partnership campaign when he said: "I think on this issue the Labour Party showed it had democratic credentials because, after the people (had) decided, we accepted the people's decision and I worked tirelessly for this policy to be accepted and for our policy to be reviewed... If it's a question of whether partnership won or lost, with hindsight, given what happened later in the general election, membership won".

The statement contrasts sharply with the evasiveness of outgoing leader Alfred Sant, who even in the run-up to the March 8 general election refused to answer questions in this connection, saying the issue was for historians to judge.

A few months back, another leadership contender, Evarist Bartolo, had also made comments in this sense but his were in reply to the questions of a puppet on a satirical show.

Dr Muscat, who was interviewed along with his closest rival Michael Falzon, was critical of the comments made by Labour's secretary general Jason Micallef on Xarabank when he clearly took sides against the leadership bid of former deputy leader George Abela.

"I don't agree with what he said about George Abela," Dr Muscat said, moderating the comment by saying that he also understood that Mr Micallef was under pressure at the time and that he believed that he had a contribution to make to the party.

Meanwhile, the race entered a new phase after the party invited nominations for the posts of leader and deputy leaders, with the elections being held on June 5 and 12 respectively. The terms of reference for a special ad hoc group of five members that will oversee the contest were also published yesterday. The idea is for the group to manage the elections and ensure that no candidate is given an unfair advantage over the others.

It was in response to this issue that Dr Muscat - who is touted, along with Dr Falzon as being a leading contender - commented on Mr Micallef's attitude towards Dr Abela's nomination. "The process not only has to be transparent but should also be seen to be as transparent as possible," he said.

During the same show, Dr Falzon took a couple of subtle digs at Dr Muscat without mentioning him by name. He described the idea of having a long-term plan - Dr Muscat said he had a 15-year plan - as starting on the wrong foot given the dynamic nature of today's society, but was overall reluctant to go into specifics on most issues.

Again, he said he would not be making any "farcical" somersaults by contesting the post of deputy leader should he lose the leadership bid - something which was not excluded by Mr Bartolo in a recent interview in The Sunday Times.