Following the announcement of Joseph Muscat's upcoming resignation due to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, and the ensuing protests, deputy prime minister Chris Fearne was considered the front-runner to replace Muscat as leader of the party and Prime Minister, and other hopefuls (including Ian Borg and Miriam Dalli) were reportedly pressured not to run in order to allow a quick transition by Christmas 2019 with the formality of a vote by party members for a single candidate.