Of all the changes that the Prime Minister decided upon in the Cabinet reshuffle he announced last Saturday, the one that was most expected – or least surprising, if you will – was that related to his deputy Chris Fearne.

Fearne relinquished the health portfolio to take a less demanding responsibility for European funds, social dialogue and consumer protection as he prepares to face the grilling by the European Parliament before his nomination as Malta’s representative on the European Commission is approved or otherwise.

He will have Andy Ellul as parliamentary secretary, and it is easy to predict that Ellul will take on the role of minister once Fearne resigns to head to Brussels.

It was not a surprise that Fearne has been named as Malta’s new European Commissioner, the one who will replace Helena Dalli when her five-year term expires later this year.

This decision was probably taken four years ago, in January 2020, when Robert Abela beat Chris Fearne to the Labour Party leadership after the disgraceful exit of Joseph Muscat. Fearne was the favourite to land the top spot, but Abela came out of the blue – with the support of the Muscat clan – to win.

Fearne, upset as he was, had not attended Abela’s inaugural speech as Labour Party leader, and it took some convincing for him to stay on as part of Abela’s Cabinet as health minister. It is thought that Fearne agreed to stay on only after Abela promised him the European Commissioner’s spot when the time came.

The time has now come, and it is now confirmed that Fearne will be moving, EP permitting, to Brussels by the end of the year. In between, as Health Minister he had to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, which posed a serious challenge to Malta’s health sector. Other than his precocious statement that “we have won the war (against Covid)” in June 2020, when the worst was still to come as thousands more were still to be affected and hundreds more were to die, Fearne’s handling of the crisis earned him accolades from all quarters.

This happened not without clashes with Abela, largely because Fearne’s main interests were the health issues brought about by the pandemic, while Abela was more concerned with the economic repercussions. The health and economic interests were often at opposite ends when it came to decisions that needed to be taken.

Fearne’s appointment as Malta’s representative on the European Commission can be seen in many ways.

It is certainly a prestigious (and lucrative) appointment for him. He knows that the PL leadership ship sailed four years ago, and his only way up was to leave Maltese politics and take on a European role. He has now got it.

It must also be remembered that, one survey after another showed Fearne to be the most popular minister by far, with ratings that were even better than those of the PM. We’re sure Abela did not like this.

With Fearne out of the way, Abela strengthened his own position as leader of the party and PM. His seemingly strained relationship with his deputy was not ideal. And, while he will not be the one who will pick the new second-in-command, his influence will count heavily in the race to replace Fearne, just as much as Muscat’s did when Abela was facing Fearne for the PL leadership.