Rosianne Cutajar has resigned from the Labour Party’s parliamentary group, but will continue to serve as an independent MP.

The news was announced by the Labour Party in a short statement, which also published the correspondence between Cutajar and the Labour Party leader and Prime Minister Robert Abela.

The party said that Cutajar wrote to Abela on Monday to advise him of her decision to resign from the PL’s parliamentary group and to remain instead as an independent MP.

In her email to Abela, Cutajar said that her decision is effective immediately.

“I am taking this decision with serenity, but with a heavy heart because the Labour Party has been a family to me for the last 13 years,” Cutajar wrote to Abela.

“I will be taking more time to take care of my health, my new family and to progress further on a professional level,” Cutajar wrote.

The decision came only minutes before the scheduled start of a party executive meeting which was reportedly set to discuss her future within the PL parliamentary group.

As things came about, Cutajar sent her resignation email at 5:10pm – 50 minutes before the meeting was scheduled to start.

Had Cutajar been axed, she would be the second MP to be given the side by Labour since Robert Abela took over the reins of the party. In 2020, the PL had removed Konrad Mizzi from the parliamentary group.

Prime Minister does not comment on resignation

Prime Minister Robert Abela did not give any comments to the media as he walked into a Labour Party executive meeting where Cutajar’s possible expulsion was meant to be on the agenda on Monday evening.

Cutajar ultimately resigned before she could be expelled.

MEP Cyrus Engerer, Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo, Active Ageing Minister Jo Etienne Abela, Minister Anton Refalo, Parliamentary Secretary Alison Zerafa Civelli, and backbencher Cressida Galea all walked in with little comment to give.

Justice Minister Jonathan Attard and Social Minister Michael Falzon both said that they had nothing to add to the Labour Party’s statement. 

Parliamentary Secretary Keith Azzopardi Tanti said that what was discussed in the party’s executive is confidential.  He didn’t have any comment when asked about Cutajar’s resignation.

PL Whip Andy Ellul similarly did not answer the question, telling a NET News journalist instead “we definitely aren’t going to discuss the Nationalist Party.”

Parliamentary Secretary Chris Bonett said that Cutajar had taken the decision she felt was best, and that it should be respected.

Home Affairs Minister Byron Camilleri was the most willing to answer media questions, saying that Cutajar had “recognised what had happened and also recognised that there was criticism being directed at the Labour Party for something which she felt was unjust, so I think her decision is correct and that it is correct that she will continue her fight in court.”

When asked whether he thought her resignation was just, Camilleri said that Cutajar had recognised that she did not want to be a burden to the Labour Party “which is why I believe she took this decision by herself, as she felt that as someone who had always worked in the PL and has been in the party for many years and in many roles she recognised that she did not want to be a burden to the party.”

‘Confirmation that Robert Abela is weak and has his hands tied’

The Nationalist Party leader Bernard Grech reacted to the news on party television by saying that the fact that Cutajar resigned from her post showed that Robert Abela is “weak and has his hands tied” and said that the Prime Minister “didn’t have the strength nor courage to take steps against her.”

The PN leader said that “after two weeks of defending her and not doing anything about what was revealed, tonight Rosianne Cutajar challenged [Abela] and announced that she had resigned from the Labour parliamentary group but will keep holding her seat.”

Grech said that Robert Abela, due to his weakness, had lost all control of his party and of the government he leads.

The chats which shook the country

Mark Camilleri, who a few days ago published chats Cutajar exchanged with Yorgen Fenech, who is accused of being a mastermind in the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, was the first to hint that Cutajar will continue the rest of the legislature as an independent candidate in his blog.

The leak of over 2,000 WhatsApp messages between Cutajar and alleged Daphne Caruana Galizia murder mastermind Yorgen Fenech dated between June and September 2019 spread like wildfire across the country two weeks ago when Camilleri published them on his blog.

The messages detailed the close and intimate relationship between the MP and the businessman, but also included details of Cutajar’s annoyance at not being included in Joseph Muscat’s Cabinet and of her wanting to “pig out” like her other colleagues by taking on a consultancy job.

They were leaked by author Mark Camilleri on the eve of a court sitting in a libel case which Cutajar had instituted against Camilleri himself, after the author wrote on his blog that Cutajar and Fenech had a close relationship.

Prime Minister Robert Abela last week insisted that all MPs shoulder their responsibility.

“At the Labour conference, I sent a clear message that this government should not allow the good of last decade in power be tarnished by negative episodes... I am convinced that everyone recognises their responsibilities as MP, towards the parliamentary group, the Labour Party and the country as a whole,” Abela said.

“Nobody is greater than the party, or the country,” Abela said when asked by journalists whether he should tell Cutajar to resign as an MP.

In the past legislature, Cutajar had been removed from the post of parliamentary secretary after an investigation exposed her role as a broker of sorts in a deal on a property in Mdina.

She had been re-elected in the 2022 election but was not given a role in the Cabinet.

In a statement on the situation on Monday, the Nationalist Party said that Abela did not have the courage to fire Cutajar from the party.

Abela is weak, the PN said in a statement preceding Cutajar’s resignation. "People expect Robert Abela to fire Rosianne Cutajar without delay," the PN said.

"Abela's weakness and Cutajar's scandalous behaviour continue to harm our country's reputation," the PN said.