After Justyne Caruana, Who Could Malta’s Next Education Minister Be?
The government has announced that Education Minister Justyne Caruana has tendered her resignation following a damning ethics probe by Standards Commissioner George Hyzler.
Caruana has resisted calls for her resignation for over a week now but has seemingly buckled under the pressure of persistent calls for her to go.
Caruana’s departure leaves the ministry without any leadership at a particularly delicate time, with COVID-19 measures resulting in a severe teacher shortage.
The ministry has also been at odds with teachers’ unions over a number of issues affecting educators.
With the relationship between Caruana and various stakeholders in the education sector having broken down, Prime Minister Robert Abela will be looking to appoint a new minister as quickly as possible to prevent matters from getting worse.
Though, it must be said that in order for this to happen, a change in the permanent secretary is also likely to be required given that he too has questions to answer about the Bogdanovic affair.
Moreover, Permanent Secretary Frank Fabri has been a part of the Education Ministry’s leadership for far longer than Caruana and the bad blood between the unions and the ministry extends to Fabri too.
There are eight MPs in the Labour parliamentary group who are currently not part of the executive and who could theoretically replace Caruana at the Education ministry.
With that in mind, Lovin Malta is taking a speculative dive into who Caruana’s successor could be.
1. Robert Abela takes on the education portfolio till the next election
One possibility, and a course of action that has been adopted in the past, is for the Office of the Prime Minister to take on the education portfolio until the end of the legislature.
Malta will head to the polls at some point over the next six months, which will also include a month-long campaign at the least. This could mean that Abela will opt to not appoint anyone new and wait till the next legislature to appoint a new minister.
Another possibility is that former education minister’s Owen Bonnici or Evarist Bartolo will step in to fill Caruana’s gap until Parliament is dissolved.
2. The portfolio goes to one of Labour’s new recruits
Over the past year or so, the Labour parliamentary group has been bolstered through the co-option of a number of new MPs.
Miriam Dalli and Clyde Caruana have both been appointed to the Cabinet, but Oliver Scicluna, Jonathan Attard and Jean Claude Micallef could all presumably be in the running to take on Caruana’s office.
The Education Ministry is one of the larger ones and it remains to be seen whether either of them has the necessary experience to lead it.
One would expect that Ian Castaldi Paris would not be considered for any role, given allegations that he may owe the taxman up to €1 million. He has also declared that he will not be contesting the next general election, suggesting that he is not planning on a political career running to far into the future.
3. A return to cabinet for former ministers
Another, albeit remote possibility, is that Caruana’s resignation will see the return to cabinet of a former cabinet member.
Former Energy Minister Joe Mizzi, former Minister for the Elderly Silvio Parnis and former Parliamentary Secretary for Persons with a Disability Anthony Agius Decelis are all still part of the Labour parliamentary group and all have experience running a ministry.
That being said, Abela will likely want to avoid going back to former ministers and would prefer a new face with no baggage.
There’s also MP Rosianne Cutajar, though it seems unlikely that Abela would opt to replace a minister who has resigned due to an ethics breach with an MP and former cabinet member who resigned for exactly the same reason.
4. An entirely new face
Earlier this week Labour MP Silvio Grixti resigned from Parliament after he was interrogated by the police in relation to the issuing of sick notes.
This means there is a vacancy in Parliament which would have to be filled by someone through a casual election, or, as happened on numerous occasions this legislature, through the co-option of an individual that did not contest the last general election.
It is possible, though somewhat unlikely, that Abela will opt for co-opting a new MP to the House and temporarily handing them the education portfolio.
Who do you think should become education minister?
READ NEXT: WATCH: President George Vella Claps Back At Istrina Boycott Calls: 'Look Into The Patients’ Eyes'
