The more Labour Party exponents, spearheaded by Prime Minister Robert Abela, try to inflate the portfolio that Malta was assigned by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, the more this effort comes across as a desperate attempt to cover for Abela's short-sightedness and hard-headedness.

Glenn Micallef was given the responsibility of youth, culture, sport and intergenerational fairness in what is considered as a very weak, inconsequential portfolio that makes it clear that von der Leyen was not happy with the name submitted by Malta. It also shows that she does not think highly of our PM, and wanted to send him a message that she is not easily bullied.

Micallef, as we all know, was not the first choice. Abela wanted his second in command, Chris Fearne, to take the post. But Fearne pulled out after he was criminally charged in connection with the hospitals' deal. Abela believed that Fearne's exoneration by the courts would have persuaded him (Fearne) to reconsider his position, so much so that the PM waited until the last-minute (late July) to put Malta's chosen nominee officially on the commission's table.

But we are convinced that Fearne's mind had been made up long before that, when he had announced, in May, that he was no longer interested in the post. Whatever the prima facie court decision made, Fearne knew that his chances of making it through the grilling by the European Parliament before the actual appointment were low. European institutions are not easily manipulated, as some of Malta's institutions are. The PM should take note of that.

Rather than select another minister from his Cabinet for the post, as has been the practice in 20 years of European membership, or pick someone with a long career at political level, Abela then chose to put forward the nomination of his former chief of staff, which immediately raised concern considering Micallef's lack of experience.

Countries were asked to submit the names of a man and a woman for the post of commissioner, with von der Leyen seeking a more gender-balanced college of commissioners. Even here, Abela stubbornly refused to budge, insisting solely with Micallef and not considering that any woman was good enough for the position.

So, really and truly, it was not a surprise that, in the end, von der Leyen opted to give Malta's nominee a portfolio of little relevance. Abela has tried to make it appear that what Malta was given was "better than expected" and "near ideal", but the truth is that the target set by the Prime Minister was not reached.

Malta had been seeking to hold the more significant role of commissioner for the Mediterranean, a post that was suggested by Malta's own government. This position was given to Croatia.

It is therefore no wonder that Malta was listed as being among the "losers" by the influential Politico soon after von der Leyen announced her team. The portfolio Malta was given, Politico wrote, has "little relevance at European level and even less clout".

Euronews said Malta was one of the countries that "drew the short straw", as it had "lobbied to capture the novel portfolio for the Mediterranean but ended up with intergenerational fairness, youth, culture and sport". It blamed Abela for this, having presented someone with little experience, "a far cry from the executive competence demanded by von der Leyen".

Abela has only himself to blame for this. By insisting with Micallef and even refusing to give von der Leyen a second option (a woman), he lost all the bargaining power he could have had for Malta's nominee to be given a more powerful portfolio.

Let us also remember that Abela is not on the commission's good books with the intransigence shown about the passport scheme in spite of being repeatedly told by the European Commission to discard it, and how recommendations on rule of law matters and energy subsidies have been ignored by the Maltese government. 

As it happened, Malta ended up at the bottom of the scale, almost an afterthought.

Compare this to what was handed over to Luxembourg (the second smallest EU country, after Malta)  - agriculture and food, the difficult task to rebuild trust with angry farmers, and the upholding of the biggest share of the EU's budget, the Common Agricultural Policy - and you can come to your own conclusion.

And it is not over yet. Micallef is still to go through what is known as the grilling of the European Parliament before he is officially appointed. He will be thoroughly interviewed and assessed before a decision is taken.

While wishing Micallef well, a potential thumbs-down can only be blamed on the Prime Minister, his stubbornness, and his inability to rise above the interests of his political party.