Frank Fabri has resigned from his long-time position as Permanent Secretary within the Ministry for Education.

The news was announced by the Principal Permanent Secretary’s office on Monday afternoon, who said that Fabri had offered his resignation that same day.

He has been replaced by Matthew Vella, who in December 2020 was appointed as the Permanent Secretary for the Ministry of the Elderly and Active Ageing and the Ministry for Inclusion, Quality of Life, and the Voluntary sector.

Vella was given his new role by Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar on Monday, and will begin in his new post from Tuesday in a transition period.

Clifton Grima was recently sworn in as Justyne Caruana’s successor, after the latter was embroiled in a scandal wherein she granted a €15,000 contract to Daniel Bogdanovic, a personal close friend of hers who was unqualified for the role granted to him. 

A report by Standards Commissioner George Hyzler found that Fabri had tried to cover for both Caruana and Bogdanovic throughout Hyzler’s investigations.

Grima was the Parliamentary Secretary responsible for sports and voluntary organisations previously, and sports has now been moved up to his new portfolio of Minister for Education and Sports.

PN Reaction: Robert Abela needs to decide

Reacting to the news, the Nationalist Party said that the day after Prime Minister Robert Abela boasted that in his time there was not a single episode of bad governance, he was facing Fabri's resignation after the scandal concerning Justyne Caruana's contract to Bogdanovic.

"Now, Robert Abela has to decide and explain why Justyne Caruana is still an MP and why Chris Fearne is continuing in his role when he is irregularly paying €13,500 per month to his chief of staff and campaign manager," the PN said.