Cardona was pressured by Prime Minister and Party Leader Robert Abela after serious allegations against the former minister emerged in the police’s case against Yorgen Fenech over the assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia.

However, Cardona was reluctant to leave the role, even telling Lovin Malta that stepping down would imply his guilt.

Cardona’s name has continuously come up during the case with details of his relationship with Alfred Degiorgio that included burner phones, family jobs, and marijuana procurement emerging.

Anthony ‘Il-Biglee’ Chetcuti was named in court as the potential middleman “whose name starts with ‘B’”  between Cardona and Degiorgio during lawyer Jason Azzopardi’s questioning of state witness Melvin Theuma over an alleged €350,000 fee for the murder revealed in secret recordings

He has vehemently denied the allegations made against him, saying the information was fed to Theuma as part of an “evil and malignant” plot to frame him for Caruana Galizia’s murder. He warned that his resignation as Deputy Party Leader would only make allegations more believable.

Theuma revealed another link between the Degiorgios and Cardona. He claimed that Alfred’s brother, Mario once mentioned David Gatt, who sent a message that if the Degiorgios pinned the blame on Cardona, he would kill them.

The race for his successor has kicked off, with the Labour Party currently discussing whether to change the staute to prevent MPs from running for the role.