Former Labour Party secretary general Jason Micallef has expressed himself against “frivolous” debates between contenders for the party leadership on state television. These, he said in a Facebook post, should be restricted to the party media.

“It does not make sense” to have leadership contenders fight it out on media that does not belong to the party. The aim of the “other media” is to create controversy that leads to tension, if not division, between the candidates.

In these programmes, he added, it is clear that the interviewer seeks information on what was wrong in the previous administration and how many heads will roll.

The first hours of the campaign for the PL leadership – which is now officially between Chris Fearne and Robert Abela – do not bode well, he said.

Micallef said he did not like comments made on the police commissioner who, until last week, was being praised by a European Parliament delegation for the police’s work in connection with the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia.

Declarations being made now will have an effect on the party’s unity, Micallef said, appealing to the two candidates not to fall into the trap of having a very intense campaign – the more it is, the longer it will take to heal the wounds, he said.