Opposition leader Joseph Muscat has pulled out of a scheduled interview on TV HEMM, which was due to be broadcast Tuesday.

The interview was meant to be on a one-on-one basis, handing Dr Muscat the floor for a full hour. Dr Muscat pulled out Monday due to other commitments, the producers said on Facebook.

TV HEMM said it tried to accommodate Dr Muscat by offering to record the programme at a time convenient to his schedule instead of a live broadcast, but the PL leader still refused to participate.

PL communications director Kurt Farrugia told the producers that Dr Muscat had other prior commitments. 

Last week, Dr Muscat accepted to take part in the debate organized on Xarabank just a day before. In January, the Labour Party had requested that the head-on debate would have taken place over one hour, instead of the customary two and a half hours of the programme.

But the producers did not accept the changes and Dr Muscat, a day before the programme, announced that he would take part.

Last week, the two deputy leaders of the Labour Party did not turn up for a debate organised by the KSU for deputy leaders, and instead the Labour Party sent spokesman Owen Bonnici.