The more cynical among us will say that trees breathed in relief when it became known that Ian Borg would no longer be the minister responsible for projects.

Under his tenure, hundreds of trees, some of them much older than we all are, were uprooted or chopped to make way for new roads and the widening of others.

Borg and Infrastructure Malta always defended themselves saying that many other trees were planted all over the island. That’s true, but seeing old trees being removed from the place they occupied for decades and unceremoniously taken away at the back of a truck is not a pleasant sight.

What environmentalists – and other people of goodwill – now hope is that Borg’s replacement, Aaron Farrugia, will have a greener heart when the ministry he is now responsible for carries on with the work started by Borg, and embarks on new ideas.

But there is a measure of certainty that Prime Minister Robert Abela was not thinking about trees when he was deciding on his new Cabinet of Ministers.

He had other things in mind, and this is why the appointment of Ian Borg as Malta’s Foreign Minister is the strangest nomination he made soon after he won the election.

For one thing, a foreign minister must be an artist of diplomacy, and Borg is not well-known for that. He is hot-tempered with the media, and often allows himself to outbursts that, were they to happen on an international stage, would spell trouble for Malta. Something like his “orgasmic” comment will not be taken lightly, just to give an example.

He needs to work hard on his command of English to come across well with his counterparts and be understood perfectly. One extra or wrong word could exacerbate a situation, and it is hoped that Borg will quickly learn to restrain himself and choose his words wisely.

In a nutshell, Borg was not the ideal candidate for the post of foreign minister. So why did Abela pick him for such a delicate post, one which is prestigious but not exactly rewarding?

And one motive that comes to mind is Borg’s growth within the Labour Party structures as well as his popularity. Even before being elected from two districts in the last election (the first time he managed the feat), Borg was being touted as a possible contender for a top position in the Labour Party.

It could be that of deputy leader, and it could be that of leader too. So Borg’s appointment as Foreign Minister could have more to it than seen on the surface.

Is Abela concerned with Borg’s growth? Does Abela see Borg as a potential rival, and wants to scale him back?

A foreign minister’s work, although important, is not as visible as that of a projects minister. In the past legislature, Borg was present almost on a daily basis in the media, with road projects taking place everywhere. It will not be the same in his new post, and even if he tried hard to get attention, foreign affairs are not exciting as roads to the Maltese average voter. Added to this, a foreign minister spends a great time abroad, and this will limit his time with his own constituents. A foreign minister is the weakest of all ministers in this regard; ask Evarist Bartolo for details.

If Abela wanted to uproot Borg from his job, for whatever reason, why then choose the Foreign Ministry for him? Couldn’t he have given him another super ministry, with other responsibilities? Was Abela so desperate to get rid of Borg’s threat? Was there no other person who, in Abela’s eyes, fitted the description of what a foreign minister should be? Is Abela hoping that Borg will end up like Bartolo next time round?

Usually, too, foreign ministers are veteran politicians, those whose political career is nearing its end. For three of them it was the last political job before they became Malta’s President of the Republic (four, to be exact, if one also takes into consideration that, for a time, Eddie Fenech Adami was also Foreign Minister, apart from head of government).

Ian Borg, still 36 and by far the youngest Foreign Minister Malta ever had, is at the start of his political career. Outwardly, he has accepted the position he has been given but inwardly he is not too happy about it.

Deep down, moving from a super ministry like the one Borg had to foreign affairs can be interpreted as a demotion for Borg. Of consolation to him is that there is ample time for him to recover.

Edward Zammit Lewis

In 2017, Edward Zammit Lewis made it to Parliament via a casual election. That meant that he could not be considered for a Cabinet post by his close friend Joseph Muscat, then Prime Minister. Zammit Lewis spent a couple of years on the back bench until Helena Dalli was moved to Brussels and he could take her place. He was later named Justice Minister by Robert Abela when the latter became PM.

This time, Zammit Lewis was elected immediately. It is weird that, in 2017, Zammit Lewis needed a casual election to find a seat in Parliament and then, five years later, he was elected directly after labelling Labour voters as fools (Gahan).

The fact that in 2022 Zammit Lewis made it to Parliament directly, his name was “available” for a place on the Cabinet. Zammit Lewis was possibly hoping to be reconfirmed in the justice portfolio, or be given something of equal or bigger importance.

However, unlike Labour voters, who forgave Zammit Lewis for the way he described them, Abela did not.

Aside from Zammit Lewis’ use of a derogatory term to describe the people who vote for him, it is where he said it that must have pushed Abela to leave him out of the Cabinet. Zammit Lewis used the term “Gahan” in message exchanges he had with the man accused of masterminding the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia, Yorgen Fenech.

When the Whatsapp chat was revealed, Zammit Lewis had refuted suggestions that he ought to resign, and Abela defended him by keeping him in his place. But a mental note must have been made. When the time came for the appointment of a new Cabinet, Abela chose to leave Zammit Lewis out.

At 48 years of age, Zammit Lewis’ political career has been put on pause. Time will tell if the play button will be pressed again.

Carmelo Abela

The same could be said, for different reasons, of Carmelo Abela.

Carmelo Abela was also left out of the long list of ministers appointed by Robert Abela on 30 March.

As with Zammit Lewis, the reasons for Carmelo Abela’s omission were not given, but what happened in the past legislature must have had a bearing on the PM’s mind.

Carmelo Abela was questioned by the police over his alleged involvement in a botched heist at the HSBC Bank in 2010, at a time when he was an employee there. Abela vehemently denies any wrongdoing, but the embarrassment remains.

Carmelo Abela was also saved by the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who abstained on a vote to adopt a report by the Commissioner for Standards, who found that the minister had breached ethics with the publication of an advert intended to boost his image, rather than provide information of value to the public.

In the past legislature, Robert Abela retained Carmelo Abela as part of his Cabinet team in spite of all this but, when the chance came, the PM did not give his namesake another appointment.

At 50 years of age, but with a longer history in Parliament as he was first elected in 1996, Carmelo Abela’s political career may have started the way down.

Rosianne Cutajar

Rosianne Cutajar did not finish the legislature as part of the Cabinet. She had resigned her post as parliamentary secretary after an investigation was initiated into her ethical conduct with, again, Yorgen Fenech.

She was elected via casual election, but this time she was not given a Cabinet position. Robert Abela wanted more women to be part of his team, and in fact waited until the outcome of the casual elections and gender-mechanism process was concluded to complete his Cabinet nominations. But there was no place for Cutajar because of what she was involved in during the past legislature.

Labour voters have given Cutajar, Zammit Lewis and Carmelo Abela a seat in the House, but Robert Abela did not forget the trouble they had caused.

Michael Farrugia and others

There is another former minister who, although retaining his seat in the House of Representatives, was not included in the Cabinet line-up.

But there was no kind of punishment in this case. Now in the second half of his 60s, Michael Farrugia is in the twilight of his career. He has been mentioned as a possible replacement to Anglu Farrugia as Speaker of the House, but apparently it was just a rumour.

Two other parliamentary secretaries also lost their place, largely as a result of Abela going for younger blood to fill in junior positions. On either side of 60, Deo Debattista and Chris Agius were not deemed as ministerial material by Robert Abela, and were both relegated to the back bench. It could be that the endorsement of their campaign by Joseph Muscat did not work in their favour too.

Alex Muscat

Another former parliamentary secretary, Alex Muscat, also lost his place on the Cabinet.

In his case, it does not look good on his CV that he worked at the OPM as the deputy to Keith Schembri, Joseph Muscat’s right hand man who as of last year stands charged with money laundering offences, among other accusations.

We will possibly learn more why his star is fading. But, like Ian Borg, he is young and he has time on his side.