Joseph Muscat will stay on as Malta’s Prime Minister until January while Chris Cardona has returned to Cabinet as Economy Minister, according to the first reports emerging from today’s PL parliamentary group meeting.

The Labour Party confirmed in a statement that Cardona has been reinstated as minister and PL deputy leader, a few days after he suspended himself in light of police investigations into the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. The minister had tried and failed to gain Parliament’s protection following reports that the Prime Minister’s former chief of staff Keith Schembri and murder suspect Yorgen Fenech had plotted to blame him for Caruana Galizia’s murder.

Meanwhile, MaltaToday and Newsbook are both reporting that Muscat will stay on as Prime Minister until January, despite pressure for him to resign immediately.

The Labour Party didn’t mention this in its official statement, only stating that MPs expressed their opinions freely and that the parliamentary group gave its unanimous support to all decisions which the Prime Minister will be taking.

The Parliamentary Group also agreed that Parliament should this week discuss the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia after Yorgen Fenech was formally charged of having commissioned the murder.

The Group also thanked Helena Dalli who has now officially terminated her parliamentary mandate after she was appointed European Commissioner for Equality.