Chris Fearne is to remain the Labour Party's Deputy Leader for Parliamentary Affairs, Prime Minister Robert Abela said Saturday.

"Of course he will remain the deputy leader," Abela told reporters, saying that he had full trust in Fearne, who had challenged Abela for the leadership post four years ago following the resignation of Joseph Muscat. 

The announcement came after a parliamentary group meeting which was hastily convened on Saturday after Fearne's resignation from the post of Deputy Prime Minister on Friday.

Fearne resigned from minister after he was criminally charged in court following the conclusions of the magisterial inquiry into the sale of three public hospitals to the private sector. Fearne denies any wrongdoing but believes the resignation was the right thing to do.

Answering questions on Saturday, Abela said that for the time being, Fearne will remain PL Deputy Leader for Parliamentary Affairs.

Fearne's nomination for the post of European Commissioner will be decided at a later stage, Abela said. "We are focusing on the elections," he said. A vote for Labour will also be a vote for Fearne, the PM said.

A decision on who will be Malta's candidate as a European Commissioner will also come at a later stage. "There is still time," Abela said.

In his resignation letter on Friday, Fearne said he was withdrawing his nomination to be Malta's next European Commissioner.

Asked about the fact that top politicians and public servants are being criminally charged, Abela said that they are all innocent, and this is more so "in the context of how the magisterial inquiry was conducted."

If we're going into the issue believing that people are guilty before the legal proceedings against them have not even started, then this means that we are putting the rule of law upside down, he said.

The PM's words imply that Labour will trudge on with no Deputy Prime Minister in place until the election, and with Fearne's ministerial responsibility for European Funds, Equality, Reform and Social Dialogue unassigned.

The Labour Party has two deputy leaders: one for parliamentary affairs, which is occupied by Fearne, and the other for party matters, with Daniel Micallef in the role.