“We will be meeting with Mr Amato next week, at the Congress of the Party of European Socialists (PES) to fix a date for this visit,” Malta Labour Party international secretary Joe Mifsud told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

Mr Amato is one of the two candidates for the PES presidency after incumbent Robin Cook decided not to contest the post again. The other candidate is former Danish Prime Minister Poul Rasmussen.

The election of the PES President will be one of the three items on the agenda at the congress meeting in Brussels next Saturday, 24 April. The theme for this year’s congress is “Growing Stronger Together”.

The other two items on the agenda will be the approval of the amendments to the PES statutes and the approval of the electoral programme for the European Parliament elections in June.

This is the first time that Labour will be taking part as a full member of the PES with full voting rights. It has been an associate member for a number of years.

Mr Mifsud said Labour will have the same number of votes in the PES congress as Cyprus and Luxembourg. “We managed to get what the Nationalist government failed to obtain,” he said. He was obviously referring to the fact that Malta has less seats in the EP than Cyprus and Luxembourg.

Asked by The Malta Independent on Sunday whom Labour will be voting for, Mr Mifsud replied diplomatically: “Both are valid candidates who have contributed to the PES and to social democracy in Europe.”

“We will vote for whoever we think can contribute better to our country and the Mediterranean principle. We will consider the interests of our country when making our decision in Brussels on this matter,” Mr Mifsud said.

The Labour delegation will include party leader Alfred Sant, senior Labour observer in the EP George Vella, Mr Mifsud, and party spokeswoman on equal opportunities Helena Dalli.

On Friday afternoon, Dr Sant will take part in a televised debate on the challenges for Europe together with the other 26 leaders of the PES member parties from the EU Member States and the acceding countries.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Spanish Prime Minister Jose’ Luis Zapatero will take part in the debate, Mr Mifsud said.

The PES congress will also confirm the members of the PES core group, with each of the 33 member parties nominating a senior politician to represent it on the presidency.

Labour has chosen Dr Vella as its representative on the PES presidency, Mr Mifsud told The Malta Independent on Sunday. “There was a consensus on this choice following internal consultations within the party. Dr Vella is highly respected in Brussels and has done the spadework for the party with the PES. It will be Dr Sant and myself who will be proposing Dr Vella for this post at the PES congress,” he said.

The PES electoral manifesto drawn up for the EP elections in June lists the five commitments it must fulfil in the next five years – boosting Europe’s growth, fighting poverty and creating more and better jobs; bringing the European Union closer to its citizens; pursuing integration and managing migration; promoting a more secure, sustainable and just world; and promoting Europe as an area of democracy and equality.

One of the most interesting proposals in the PES electoral manifesto, is the creation of a European Seniors Forum to highlight the concerns of EU senior citizens, the creation of an EU drugs squad to step up the fight against cross-border drug trafficking and money laundering, the reform of the United Nations to strengthen cooperation between different countries, and the improvement of links with the EU’s Mediterranean partners.

Mr Mifsud said Labour had contributed fully to the drafting of the PES electoral manifesto. “They are not imposing on us but sharing with us”, he told The Malta Independent on Sunday.

There were other socialist politicians from EU countries who have visited Malta to support Labour at this particular moment, Mr Mifsud said.

He revealed that only last week, British MP Andrew Miller and German MP Dieter Grasedieck were on working visits to Malta. “Surely we are not alone,” Mr Mifsud said.