Etienne Grech has stepped down as a member of parliament, the Labour Party announced on Wednesday.
In a three-sentence statement, the PL said that Grech had resigned for personal reasons.
The party thanked Grech for his contribution to the PL and said that in the coming days the mechanism for the co-option of his replacement will begin.
Grech, a doctor by profession, has been in parliament since 2013 and was re-elected in the 2017 general election on the Fourth District in a casual election to fill the seat vacated by Chris Fearne, who was elected on two districts. He has been a backbencher without a role in the Cabinet since.
Grazzi lil dawk kollha li fi ftit hin baghtuli numru ta' messaggi dwar il-fatt li issa hemm siggu nieqes fuq ir-raba'...
Posted by Andy Ellul on Wednesday, October 14, 2020
Since Grech was elected through a casual election, the Labour Party must now co-opt his replacement into parliament.
The PL must carry out two co-options - one to replace Grech and the other to replace former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, after neither Stefan Buontempo nor Mark Causion submitted their names for the casual election to replace him.
MEP Miriam Dalli has been touted as a potential replacement for Muscat's vacated seat, although there is no confirmation on this and Dalli herself remains tight-lipped.
Meanwhile, the Times of Malta has also reported that former Gozo Minister Justyne Caruana is on the verge of stepping down from her seat in Parliament as well. Other reports say that this is not the case.
Caruana was initially appointed as Gozo Minister in Robert Abela's cabinet last January, but lost her portfolio within days after ties between Yorgen Fenech - the alleged mastermind behind the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder - and Silvio Valletta - Caruana's husband and an assistant commissioner in the police force - were exposed.
Government sources said speculation was rife about a cabinet reshuffle or ‘clean-up’, although nothing has been confirmed at this stage.