Prime Minister Robert Abela said Monday that he will not comment on reports that former deputy leader Chris Cardona does not exclude a return to politics.

Asked by The Malta Independent, Abela said that he does not wish to comment on speculation.

Cardona told Times of Malta that he does not rule out a return to politics.

Cardona resigned in 2020 after he was named during investigations into the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Cardona rejects any involvement in the 2017 assassination. He was elected party deputy leader in 2016 but, after being left out of the Cabinet when Robert Abela became Prime Minister in January 2020, he resigned from Parliament and did not contest the 2022 election.

In his comments, Abela said that there is no formal request for Cardona to return to the party, and therefore he will not comment on speculation. “I will only speak if (a request to return is made) … in which case the party has its structures (to deal with such situations).”

Cardona is the latest name to be linked to a possible return. Recently, Rosianne Cutajar – who resigned from the PL parliamentary group last year after Whatsapp chats with Yorgen Fenech, the man accused of being a mastermind in Caruana Galizia’s assassination, were made public – applied to rejoin the party. He situation is still to be decided.

Former Minister Justyne Caruana was also mentioned as possibly making a return to politics, while former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat is being encouraged to contest the June MEP elections, but is still to decide.