Ministers on tenterhooks as Abela drags feet on reshuffle

A Cabinet reshuffle that is expected to place MPs Clyde Caruana and Miriam Dalli in the country’s executive has government ministers on tenterhooks, as Robert Abela appears yet to decide on his next head of secretariat.  

Abela shifted Caruana into the House of Representatives in a technocratic co-option that is widely expected to make the former Jobsplus boss Malta’s next finance minister, replacing party veteran Edward Scicluna.  

Abela’s plans include a ministry for Miriam Dalli, a portfolio that insiders believe will undoubtedly take climate change from environment minister Aaron Farrugia’s portfolio as well as some elements of the economy portfolio the latter ministry held by Silvio Schembri.  

But the Prime Minister’s procrastination has raised anxiety in his Cabinet, as ministers who confided with this newspaper said they were expected a reshuffle over the weekend right after the end of the Budget debates in the House.  

One minister who spoke to MaltaToday joked that the waiting game had made “everyone working in some ministerial secretariat an expert on Cabinet configurations.”  

“Now that we are waiting for a reshuffle, everyone is assessing each other according to who is the weakest and the strongest: the best performing ministers are going nowhere, while some juniors are going to get bumped up, and that means that Abela wants to prune non-performers.”  

One other minister commented wryly on the anxiety inside the Cabinet. “Many are unsure as to whether their careers will be coming to an end there and then. You can hear them crow about their every single achievement now that they fear the chop...”  

A source close to the prime minister told MaltaToday Abela is mapping out the best combination possible for a dynamic team.  

“He has a set of policies he wants implemented before going in for a general election, so he is going to pick the best placed ministers to help him deliver those policies, and he wants to steer clear of the problems that plagued ministers in the previous administration.”  

But Abela has also been warned against sowing resentment inside constituencies who could feel disenfranchised if their MP loses their ministerial portfolio. One member of a ministerial secretariat told MaltaToday: “He cannot forget that at district level, a minister also means having a stronger connection to the constituents. Ministers who have forged a close connection with the district might not be easily disposed of.”  

Speculation is also rife about the replacement for head of secretariat. Two names put forward by Cabinet ministers were the deputy commander of the Armed Forces, Mark Mallia. Abela is said to have a positive rapport with Mallia, much like his predecessor Joseph Muscat had with Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi, who is the AFM commander. The other possible candidate has been young lawyer Ian Borg, who however appears to have settled into a consultancy role at the Office of the Prime Minister rather than the round-the-clock job of head of secretariat.  

On Friday, the Labour parliamentary group also faced a reinvigorated Bernard Grech, whose speech at the end of the OPM budgetary vote presented a new face to the Opposition. “His rhetoric was clear, straight to the point, pugnacious... he allowed himself to put his hand in his pocket just to show off his ease,” one minister told MaltaToday. “Abela’s choices for the Cabinet are aimed at neutralising criticism of his government’s performance.”