PM calls Ministers, MPs as reshuffle expected / Malta News Briefing – Saturday 6 January 2024

Updated 1200

Ministers flock to Castille as reshuffle expected – reports: PM Robert Abela is summoning Cabinet members and Labour backbenchers to his office at Valletta’s Auberge de Castille as he readies his fresh executive team. Reports, including on The Times of Malta, indicate substantial changes. This marks the premier’s first reshuffle following Labour’s sweeping victory in the 2022 general election. The current cabinet comprises 18 ministers and four parliamentary secretaries. Upon announcing his cabinet in March 2022, Abela retained nine ministers in their roles, modified the portfolios of five ministers, and introduced six new faces—two ministers and four parliamentary secretaries—into the cabinet.

The reshuffle may take into consideration the fact that 2024 will see a change in the presidency and the appointment of Malta’s new European Commissioner.

Morning Briefing

Second bouncer charged on NYE Paceville assault

A second bouncer, implicated in a violent assault on New Year’s Eve in Paceville, faced allegations of working without the required security guard license, as disclosed in court.
Ryan Zammit, aged 26 and residing in Gżira, was accused of causing severe harm to Idriss Ahmed Adem, disturbing the peace, and engaging in unlicensed security work. During his appearance before Magistrate Joseph Gatt on Friday, Zammit vehemently refuted the accusations. Upon being denied bail, he became visibly emotional, breaking into tears and sobbing loudly. Shocking bystanders, the assault on the Sudanese student was captured on film, showing approximately five security guards kicking, hitting, and using what seemed to be collapsible batons against the victim outside a nightclub on St. George’s Road. (Times of Malta)

Skills card to be required for foreign caregivers

Malta’s Active Aging Minister, Jo Etienne Abela, revealed that foreign caregivers looking after the elderly will soon require a skills card for employment. According to Abela, this measure is intended to eleate the caliber of workers and simplify the hiring procedure, thereby minimizing bureaucratic hurdles. “This year, our focus will revolve around the recruitment of caregivers, irrespective of whether they are Maltese, Gozitan, or third-country nationals,” expressed the minister. Abela highlighted that the surge in demand for caregivers, alongside longer life expectancies, was the driving force behind this decision. (Maltatoday)

Court orders ‘missing’ Europol report to be presented in case against Yorgen Fenech

An elusive Europol report from 2018, centered on potential scenarios in Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination, must be reintroduced in court proceedings. Derived from a cloned phone of the late journalist, destroyed in a car bomb, this report remains unseen by the chief investigator but holds significance in the case against Yorgen Fenech, a suspected accomplice. During the evidence compilation’s resumption, the report’s Europol author, Marinus Martin Van Der Meij, declined to disclose details without lifted “handling codes.” Van Der Meij, originally set to appear in person, testified remotely, confirming delivering the report to Magistrate Anthony Vella in March 2018. (The Malta Independent)