Labour MEP Miriam Dalli said she will not contest for the Labour leadership.

Dalli said in a Facebook post that after due consideration, I have decided not to contest for the leadership role of the Labour Party.

"I would like to thank all those who have shown their support and encouraged me to go for this role. I will continue working hard in the European Parliament to reciprocate the trust that the Maltese citizens have placed in me."

Dalli is the first of Labour politicians who were being named as possible contenders to make her decision public.

She was considered as having a potential chance of being the first woman to be elected leader of a political party.

She has served the Labour Party as an MP since 2014. In the last election, she had obtained the best ever result for a Lamour candidate in the MEP election.

The election for the new Labour leader will take place in January.

Joseph Muscat announced his resignation last Sunday.

Dalli last Saturday said that she felt betrayed and angry, adding that she knows that many people are sharing her emotions and feeling “disoriented”