Allow me to reply to the letter titled Labour’s leadership election (Charmaine Calleja, TMID 25 April), in which letter the correspondent not only denied that the MLP leadership candidate Joseph Muscat was being backed by the party machinery but, also went on to claim that, always according to herself, Mr Muscat’s age, intelligence and visions were assets which might make the MLP electable in 2013.

It surely this did not escape the correspondent’s attention that many prominent socialist spokesman have argued, (convincingly enough), that all those MLP officials responsible for the 8 March general election defeat should now be gentlemen enough not only to admit responsibility and, as a consequence, resign from their party posts, but also, that they should have apologised to all those faithful to the party for having deceived them into thinking that electoral victory was only at a stone’s throw away.

In this sense, all those making up the MLP strategy team should have had the decency to refuse to contest for top party (leadership) posts in an effort to stop from continuing to damage the MLP. Evidently enough, this was beyond certain party representatives, blinded as they are by their own personal ambitions; but your correspondent was silent about this.

Since Dr Muscat has said that, if elected leader, he will become Malta’s Prime Minister in 2013, allow me to point out that, whenever any such assertions are made, the person who says them comes over as being rather arrogant, conceited and presumptuous.

Edward Torpiano

Floriana