It was easy to predict that Marlene Farrugia would break her ties from the Labour Party. The question was not if, but when.

The way she was speaking against the government she formed part of gave ample indications that she was not happy with the way things were going, in particular with how Joseph Muscat had betrayed her trust. Before the election, like many others she was led to believe that he was the solution to Malta’s problems. But, like many others, she quickly began to realise that Joseph’s intentions were simple – he just wanted to win the election, and to hell with what came later.

Marlene Farrugia did not make things difficult for the PM and Labour because she was not given the post she wanted. She did not bombard her leader with hundreds of SMSs late in the night to tell him how things should be done. She did not vote against her party because she had some personal grudge against someone, be it an ambassador or a fellow MP. She did not create havoc in Parliament, using personal resentment to block a project or kick out a colleague.

But she was vocal on matters that pertain to her principles. She was adamant to see that the electoral programme on which Labour was elected to power is followed to the letter, and is not thrown aside because votes are now not needed. She was determined to see that the pledges of meritocracy and transparency are maintained, and not have unqualified people given lucrative assignments just because they voted Labour. Most of all, she was resolute in her beliefs that the environment she holds dear was being thrown to the dogs by a government that was prostituting itself to unscrupulous people with deep pockets.

The stand Marlene Farrugia took against her party in Parliament on Tuesday and her quick resignation afterwards cannot be compared to any other resignation. She did not hold her party to ransom for months on end and stretch her protestations right to the end of the legislature, but walked away in a sincere hope – her words – that the party she belonged to realises that it is not living up to the people’s expectations and corrects itself in time to win the next election. She did not play around with abstentions and shenanigans, and once she made up her mind to vote against her own party she had the courage to do it immediately and walk away.

What Marlene Farrugia did was not for selfish reasons, but because she believes that the promises made before the election by the movement she belonged to were not being fulfilled.

In an interview she has given to The Malta Independent, she says that there are other people in the Labour Party, including Labour MPs, who are unhappy with the way things are going.

But I do not think that they will follow in Marlene Farrugia’s footsteps. Many of them have been bought with appointments that mean fat cheques at the end of the month, something they are not prepared to give up.