Several Nationalist Party MPs who are angered about a reshuffle of portfolios by leader Bernard Grech were absent for a three-hour parliamentary group meeting held on Tuesday, The Malta Independent is informed.

Grech has been holding one-to-one meetings with MPs as he prepared to change responsibilities for some of them, while retaining others in their present post.

But not everyone was pleased with the changes that Grech was planning although, at the end, some of them retained what they had.

MPs who have been reported to have expressed their disappointment at Grech’s planned changes include David Thake, Therese Comodini Cachia, Robert Arrigo, Mario Galea and Stephen Spiteri.

None of them attended Tuesday’s meeting, during which legislation being brought up before Parliament was discussed.

Sources told The Malta Independent that there were MPs who attended the meeting who had big smiles on their faces, as they had been approached by Grech with better portfolios than the ones they hold. Others who attended appeared glum, and did not participate as much as they normally do, the sources said.