Abela lures Dalli to Cabinet, but Labour MP Etienne Grech refuses to budge

PM tries to make room for Dalli on Cabinet with 2nd district co-option after Labour MP turns down request to cede seat

Labour MEP Miriam Dalli
Labour MEP Miriam Dalli

Prime Minister Robert Abela has asked Labour MEP Miriam Dalli to leave Brussels to be part of his Cabinet.  

MaltaToday has learnt that Labour MP Etienne Grech, a doctor by profession, was discretely asked whether he would resign his parliamentary seat in a bid to facilitate the co-option of Dalli, to the House.  

Dalli, who obtained the largest number of votes in the 2019 European elections – over 63,000 – has been tight-lipped over the proposal to join the House, even to her closest associates.  

Yesterday Dalli said she would not “speculate” over reports connecting her to the bye-election for the seat vacated by former leader Joseph Muscat, due to the election in progress.  

But no nominations have yet been filed for the second district seat vacated by Muscat, which could see such candidates as either former Labour minister Stefan Buontempo, or the former Green Party candidate, Mark Causon, elected in his stead. Nominations close tomorrow on Monday. 

After failing to convince Grech to step aside, efforts are underway by Labour to convince Causon and Buontempo not to contest the bye-election, paving the way for the Labour executive committee to co-opt Dalli (pictured) into the House. 

Dalli was once considered to be a favourite to replace Muscat as leader, often polling highly along possible contenders like Robert Abela, long before Muscat’s disgraceful exit from politics after the arrest of Tumas magnate Yorgen Fenech and the resignation of chief of staff Keith Schembri. 

But after Muscat stepped down, Dalli decided to retain her seat in Brussels as the race started framing itself around the contest between deputy PM Chris Fearne and Abela. 

Dalli’s entry into the Cabinet would provide Abela with an opportunity to carry out a reshuffle, allowing the PM to advance the better elements of his team into new roles in Abela’s cabinet. 

Dalli, who as a vice-president of the Socialists and Democrats enjoys a high profile in Europe, has been the author of successful environmental legislation, and has been at the forefront of the European socialists’ ‘green new deal’ policies such as Europe-wide emissions cuts and carbon-neutral targets. 

Whether her European profile makes for an easy fit inside the Labour salon of pro-development policies is yet to be known. More significantly, she would be pushed to the government frontline as a Labour heavyweight, allowing Robert Abela to maximise his gains in a forthcoming electoral confrontation with a new team. 

Dalli’s profile could also serve as a counter-weight to the growing influence of ministers like Chris Fearne, the deputy PM and health minister who has shone during the COVID-19 pandemic; and Ian Borg, the transport minister with the biggest ever roads project in history. 

Various ministers have been on the alert over a reshuffle that could leave some of Abela’s original team out in the cold, spelling resentment at constituency level if not all districts are covered by one representative in Cabinet.