The Labour Party said yesterday any speculation about the leaked list of MLP delegates was intended only to harm the MLP.

It was commenting on media reports about a survey by a newspaper which asked a number of MLP delegates, of whom it apparently had a list, how they would be voting, the result showing an overwhelming vote for Joseph Muscat.

The MLP said the general conference list of delegates is passed, as has always been the practice, to all those who from time to time contest some position within the MLP’s internal structures, including the election for the national executive and for the administration. It is also handed to MLP candidates for a general election, who ask for it.

It said every candidate contesting the party leadership and deputy leadership contests being held next month, were also given an updated list of the delegates.

The leak of the list has also prompted MEP Joseph Muscat, who is contesting and is shown in the newspaper survey as the overwhelming choice of the delegates surveyed, to write to the party electoral commission chairman, Joe Falzon, calling for an investigation into the leak.

In his letter to Mr Falzon, Mr Muscat associates himself with the request made by Mario-Louise Coleiro-Preca, herself another contender, for the investigation.

The leak was unacceptable and should be taken seriously, Mr Muscat argues in his letter. The use made of the list brought pressure to bear on delegates and was a hindrance to all candidates without exception, he adds.

And another leadership contender, Evarist Bartolo, had another complaint to make to the media. There were rumours, he said in a statement, that he was not interested in the leadership and that he had his eyes on the position of deputy leader for parliamentary affairs.

Mr Bartolo said these rumours were intended to harm his support among the delegates, and to cause him to withdraw his candidature. But, he said, he was not interested in the deputy leadership post. If not elected leader, he would not be contesting any other leadership post, but would continue serving the party and the constituents who since 1992 have always elected him from two districts.

Mr Bartolo said he would not withdraw from the leadership contest and would continue meeting party delegates for discussions with them. His message of unity within the MLP was that the five candidates contesting the leader’s post should be the five fingers of the same hand. He also condemned whoever it was who leaked the list of delegates, which amounted to poisoning the electoral process in a bid to manipulate it.