[WATCH] Randolph De Battista to be appointed Geneva ambassador

Prime Minister Robert Abela has announced MP Randolph Debattista will be Malta’s ambassador to Geneva.

“Everyone’s role is valued, and anyone who can contribute to the country will be utilised. My job is to unite and not push people away,” he told the press outside the Labour Headquarters on Friday evening.

Abela was fielding questions from journalists following an Extraordinary General Meeting where party delegates voted “strongly” in favour of a change in the party’s statute, allowing members of parliament to contest the deputy leader for party affairs post.

He said outgoing CEO Randolph Debattista will be made ambassador. Questioned on whether he will retain his role as MP, Abela said the role does not allow it, paving the way for a by-election or co-option.

On MP Rosianne Cutajar’s return to the Labour fold, Abela said he spoke to her before Friday’s parliamentary group meeting, and made declarations which were to his satisfaction. He skirted around questions on whether she had issued an apology as he had demanded. 

Speaking on the statutory changes, Abela said a party needs to renew itself in order to remain relevant, and only in that way can it aspire to ignite change in the country.

“In order for a political party to remain relevant it has to be a catalyst of internal change, and that is the strong message we are sending,” he said. “The biggest mistake you can make is to resist that change.”