‘Malta Deserves Change’: Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer Opts Out Of Re-election
Labour MEP Cyrus Engerer has announced that he will not be contesting his re-election this June.
Although the reason for his decision not to put his name on the MEP election ballot sheet has not been disclosed, Engerer wrote a lengthy message on his Instagram stories to announce this.
“Now that the last plenary session of the European Parliament in this mandate has come to an end, I can confirm that I will not be contesting the next election.”
“I deeply understand the anger of many people with our values who feel orphaned in Malta’s political system. For this reason, and because I believe that we all deserve better, I will not stop here. I will continue to be active because I believe that Malta deserves change,” he continued.
Engerer then expressed his vision for Malta, stating that the Maltese population deserves a country of “standards”, one that “rises to the next level”. He described the country that the Maltese deserve as a “society that does not stop striving for justice after a death at a workplace”, among other things.
“A Malta with clean and transparent governance; a Malta that implements all the recommendations of the public inquiries after the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the death of Jean Paul Sofia.”
The MEP also said that the “Malta we deserve” is one where “the honest businessman finds a market with a level playing field where, with hard work, anyone could succeed”.
“A Malta where we care so much about our health that we ensure a healthy environment as a fundamental human right,” he stated.
Engerer then thanked the Prime Minister, who “until yesterday continued to encourage [him] to be a candidate”.
However, despite the Labour Party’s backing, Engerer explained that he has “decided responsibly to take a step back from the ballot,” adding that he will always “remain an activist for what is right”.
“I am proud that together with the (true) Socialists, the Greens, the Left, and the Liberals, we were a shield against the extreme right and the populists who are raising their heads all over Europe, supported by the conservatives who fell for the trap of populist.”
Engerer went on to say that of all his achievements throughout his tenure, where he championed LGBTQI+ rights and those who are marginalised, his greatest satisfaction was giving 100 young people the opportunity to work with him in his office in Brussels.
“All this in full transparency, as an example of how politics should be done, where every meeting in my office was held openly and can be found on my website in the ‘nothing to hide section’.”
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