The minister resigned, and the Prime Minister tweeted

The bizarre ending to yesterday’s hastily convened Cabinet reshuffle was a snapshot posted on the prime minister’s Twitter feed – ‘having a chat with Godfrey Farrugia’ – after a day spent informing his ministers with new, onerous portfolios.

Unlike his predecessor, Joseph Muscat did not make his Cabinet reshuffle announcement at Castille, whetting journalists’ appetite for explanations on his choices but more importantly, about the resignation of health minister Godfrey Farrugia.

Unlike Lawrence Gonzi did back in 2012, Muscat refused to open himself up to probing questions on his boasts only twelve months ago that his would be “the best Cabinet ever”; on whether he had made the wrong choice in appointing the untested Godfrey Farrugia to health minister and the equally unprepared Franco Mercieca to parliamentary secretary; on whether he was wrong to give him a ‘waiver’ on the code of ethics so that the ophthalmological surgeon could carry on with his practice.

The event came and went by means of a Facebook status updated posted by Farrugia’s partner Marlene Farrugia, also a Labour MEP, at 10 am; and finally by Muscat’s tweet at 5:24pm: an entire day of important political changes and unanswered questions on the state of Malta’s national healthcare service relegated to tweets and live-blogs, played out on the social media as it were just a game.

Even the names of Muscat’s appointments: Karmenu Vella as EU Commissioner, promotions for Owen Bonnici (justice and culture minister), Chris Agius (parliamentary secretary), Michael Farrugia (social policy minister), Justyne Caruana (parliamentary secretary), Konrad Mizzi (health and energy) and Chris Fearne as parliamentary secretary, and Michael Falzon for planning parliamentary secretary; all these were fed to the media machine and announced in a trickle of social media announcements.

Observers will dissect the appointments: energy and health are a super-ministry for the young Mizzi; putting Falzon – who is drafting the fireworks factory development policy for MEPA at the political head of MEPA – is in itself controversial; Bonnici as culture and justice minister will be welcomed. And new faces inside the Cabinet as parliamentary secretaries are sure to add new energy to the current crop.

Muscat sounded and appeared unfazed yesterday (going by his tweets, only) displaying a sense of lightness about the whole affair. His spokesperson Kurt Farrugia tweeted a shot of the fantastic weather and the Girgenti views, members of their entourage kindly provided the press waiting patiently outside with beverages and some biscuits. Just another day of prime-ministering.

The Nationalist Party machine was eerily silent too, except for a statement it issued soon after Farrugia’s resignation (see page 3), saying that it had exposed Muscat’s “deceit”.

“Muscat has sued and disposed of Farrugia and Mercieca… he created every imaginable obstacle to hinder Farrugia,” the PN said, accusing Muscat of concealing Mercieca’s request to be left out of the Cabinet following the imminent reshuffle.

“A prime minister who conceals the resignation of a member of Cabinet from the people is a prime minister who put his own political interest above the people’s interests… These events fly in the face of Muscat’s promise to have the best Cabinet in history.”

Mercieca had already made his intention clear that he wanted to return to his practice as an eye surgeon, and one who is much sought after. But in the process, he also made the Prime Minister foolishly concede a ‘limited waiver’ on the Code of Ethics for ministers so that he could carry out his practice in the weekends. It opened up Muscat to allegations of improper governance, ready to sacrifice the ethics code he had used to beat up former finance minister Tonio Fenech with during the latter’s infamous private jet trip to watch Arsenal play.

A year into his tenure as health minister, Farrugia’s stewardship of the health ministry underwent considerable criticism, with the handling of Mater Dei and the nurses’ union proving to be his Achilles heel – especially after refusing to take ownership for a report penned by consultant John Dalli and the aesthetically unpleasant and unsettling marquee set up outside the Mater Dei emergency department to extend the waiting room.

Farrugia blamed shortcomings on the previous PN administration. He even disassociated the health ministry from Dalli’s report – even though Joseph Muscat had said that Dalli’s appointment was the initial idea of Godfrey Farrugia himself. 

Farrugia’s handling of Mater Dei was again put into question when in January 2014, the health ministry set up a tent and a marquee for an outdoor reception centre at Mater Dei Hospital – only for the Prime Minister to order the removal of the tent. The tent, which was set up while the day care unit’s reception area was being filled with beds prompted widespread condemnation by nurses, hospital workers and unions.

His first weeks as health minister were also mired in controversy, not least due to Muscat’s reported decision to allow him to have his own fiancé Marlene Farrugia, a Labour MP, as an unpaid ministerial aide.

Barely two days into her appointment, Marlene Farrugia stepped down from the role citing the “excessive attention” on her appointment not to undermine the work of the health ministry. From then onwards, Marlene Farrugia made herself heard: criticising the “abusive” arrest of Norman Vella, the Mistra Heights permit, and even the Individual Investor Programme, insisting that the government rushed and should have first struck consensus with the Opposition from its conception.

Muscat may have dead-legged the Opposition by giving them little to talk about. But with Konrad Mizzi placed in charge of health, he is now burdened even more by the challenges of Enemalta’s conversion to gas and the bed shortages in Mater Dei. Michael Falzon will be open to challenges from the Opposition over his handling of MEPA reform and the shape of decision-making inside the new environment, and planning authorities. The prime minister has even more to prove with his Cabinet 2.0.