Prime Minister Robert Abela has formed his new cabinet, and there is little that is new about it compared to how the previous one was arranged to deliver government policy. Essentially, the Prime Minister has retained the previous core set-up of his cabinet, albeit with some small changes.
Firstly, there are some misconceptions about the changes in relation to Deputy Prime Minister Ian Borg, who previously had Foreign Affairs and Tourism and has now been given the Health Ministry. Ian Borg elevated the Foreign Ministry’s work and reputation at a particular time when the ministry was more relevant than usual. This was very unusual, considering that the Foreign Ministry in Malta was previously considered a nominal desk job, usually earmarked for irrelevant politicians. Evarist Bartolo and Carmelo Abela were some of the irrelevant foreign ministers we have had.
Having been transferred to the Health Ministry from the limelight of international affairs, there is a misconception being thrown around in political circles and political commentary that Ian Borg has been demoted, but it is actually the contrary. In our local politics, the Health Ministry is the biggest ministry of them all. It is a super ministry, and it is often handled by heavyweights. Ian Borg has been promoted and has been given the government’s largest ministry. The reason for his promotion is obvious, and Ian Borg is being put in the limelight by the Labour Party in his bid for further leadership ambitions. In local politics, Ian Borg will be even more influential than before.
In fact, it was rather odd that the Health Ministry was granted to a newcomer: Jo Etienne Abela. The newcomer did not make a good impression: he was involved in a scandal that so far was kept under wraps but may be worth pointing out. As Health Minister, Jo Etienne Abela employed the wife of a close relative with whom he had an affair. This scandal was widely known in Labour circles.
That Chris Fearne has replaced Ian Borg seems logical in the sense that a village idiot cannot be Foreign Affairs Minister: Chris Fearne at least has experience working and living abroad. That Chris Fearne is still undergoing criminal proceedings over the Vitals case does not look good, irrespective of whether you think he is guilty or not. It provides an ugly ethical precedent, which is being violated through one of the only honest politicians remaining in Labour, cleverly placed so that this precedent may craftily be abused by others with worse motives.
Justice and Home Affairs have been kept under Joseph Muscat’s loyalists, with musical chairs being played that will not affect any significant or noticeable changes to policy or execution. The pauperisation of the Police and the Attorney General’s Office in terms of skills and competent officials will continue, and impunity will be extended through the new ministers handling Justice and Home Affairs respectively: Clifton Grima and Glenn Bedingfield. These are party loyalists who have been placed in their roles for very specific reasons intended to extend the dysfunction at these institutions.
That Rosianne Cutajar is being appointed Minister of Civil Rights is an insult to all civil rights activists and also a move aimed directly against the free press. The Labour Party wants to raise libel damages. Rosianne Cutajar was compelled to resign from the Labour Party’s Parliamentary Group thanks to the free press. After having her criminal investigation sabotaged by the Police Commissioner and the Attorney General, she will be given the tools to effect her revenge.
Jonathan Attard has been moved to planning to execute Labour’s parasitic reforms that will expand construction into PDZ by changing the local plans. He has already been commingling with some of the worst elements of the construction lobby, of all places, in China.
The new Culture Minister is Malcolm Paul Agius Galea: a sleazy opportunist who was given a parliamentary role that he did not fulfil, yet was still paid for it. He did not pay back his dues. Maltese artists are already congratulating him for being appointed the new Minister of Culture. The ingratiation is pathetic.
Miriam Dalli has retained her portfolio: she has successfully preserved absolute secrecy on Malta’s energy contracts while also preserving Joseph Muscat’s corrupt legacy: Electrogas.
Things have remained the same. Only the faces and names have changed.
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