We've already written many times about the large Cabinet of Ministers that was appointed by Robert Abela when he became Prime Minister in January 2020, and how that became even larger when the reshuffle took place in November last year.

What we have noticed of late is that this has led to an overlapping of duties, with the result that ministers (and parliamentary secretaries) are jostling for position when it comes to taking credit for projects that the government undertakes.

We have seen, many times, activities in which multiple ministers and parliamentary secretaries have been present, all wanting their five-minute speech in order to be seen as having been responsible for whatever project that is being launched, updated or concluded.

The Department of Information is daily inundating the newsrooms with press statements about some activity a minister or PS has been involved in. Some of them are not worth a second look, the way we see things.

You can get an indication of the "importance" of the ministry's contribution to the project depending on the length of speech time the minister or PS is given, and the order in which speeches are delivered. The longer the time allotted, the bigger the input. And the minister who speaks last is normally the one who was more involved than the rest.

Sometimes the list is extraordinarily long, as there are projects in which several ministries want their share of the pie. It's almost funny.

We will not be naming occasions, because it would be unfair to leave others out. What we are sure of is that all ministries have been involved in instances when the ministers appeared alongside others on occasions when the government wanted to brag about its work. 

With the election approaching fast, these occasions will no doubt be on the rise. God forbid that one particular ministry is left out when the government is boasting about doing its work. Imagine what would happen - behind the scenes, of course - if this had to happen, particularly if the minister or parliamentary secretary involved is a political rival in the same electoral district.

We are also expecting the number of coverage calls to rise in the next few months, even when the occasion demands the presence of just one minister. We are sure that each and every minister or parliamentary secretary will be using their position - the famous power of incumbency concept - to try to reach out to their constituents via their government duties. It has always happened (under different administrations) and it is not expected to stop now.

We understand that politicians are that kind of breed of people who want to be seen doing something. Otherwise they would not be in this job. But ministers and parliamentary secretaries should understand that not everything they do will make it as a news report, probably with the exception of PBS which, as the state broadcasting station, will have a more difficult time leaving out events organised by ministries.