Robert Abela bombastically declared that Glenn Micallef's assigned EU portfolio is "near ideal".  He bluffed that "Micallef will be more influential than the newly created portfolio for the Mediterranean". Then he really got carried away: "The portfolio assigned to us is among the most powerful".

That same day the influential Politico commented that "The Maltese candidate's lack of experience as a Minister and short political career led to a portfolio with little relevance at the European level and even less clout".

Abela was trying to force-feed the domestic audience the impression that he's great, a brilliant strategist.  He tried to convince us that his amazing genius led to Malta getting "among the most powerful" portfolio. The reality is very different.  As Politico put it, Malta's portfolio has little relevance and even less clout.

But Abela lives in a parallel reality. He imagines that what he says in Malta doesn't leave our shores.  He thinks people are stupid.  He believes the public only listens to the utterly perverted message coming out of ONE and PBS.  This is not the 1980s.  Despite his best efforts the public still has access to other sources of information - and his ridiculous drivel, even if delivered in Maltese, reaches his European counterparts.

Abela is desperate.  He knows his choice for Commissioner was utterly short-sighted. Glenn Micallef may be a smart and hard-working chap.  But he lacks the experience, gravitas and political clout for a job as demanding as EU Commissioner.  Abela was warned by his own colleagues and everybody else to think again.  Ursula von der Leyen asked him to reconsider his decision.  But Abela's too hard-headed for his own good.

He stuck to his guns and shoved Glenn Micallef into tiger territory. And now Micallef is being ridiculed in the international press. He was dubbed "the Newbie", "the youngest of them all, aged 35". He's being mocked for his ridiculous retweets on X. Those retweets don't indicate any interest in politics - only that "he is a big fan of Liverpool FC and Helena Dalli". He's being labelled "the Labour Party golden boy" who was made Prime-minister Robert Abela's chief of staff "when he was just 31".

Politico called Abela's decision to propose Micallef "a wild card nomination put forward after Malta's first pick, Chris Fearne, resigned after being indicted in a fraud case".  This is all Robert Abela's fault.  He relentlessly accuses others of harming Malta's interests but he's responsible for the damaging exposure our country's facing. Malta's reputation can't afford to get any worse.

When critics labelled Micallef "too young", Abela boasted that Micallef will bring down the EU Commissioners' average age and send a strong message in favour of youth. When journalists asked Abela whether his stubbornness led to such a weak portfolio, he rebutted that "Malta was given a very strong portfolio".

He argued that "the portfolio assigned to us.... has a strong budget".  Glenn Micallef's EU portfolio carries a 13 billion euro budget - not a small sum. But even some of the less important portfolios, such as the Czechia's International partnerships portfolio has a budget of over 300 billion, to put things into perspective.

Abela insists that Malta's portfolio is "near ideal".  But Politico put Malta first on the list of losers in its "Winners and losers of the new European Commission" article. Unfortunately for the "newbie" it's Glenn MIcallef's name that's at the very top of that losers' list.

Micallef's ordeal is not over yet.  He still faces a terrifying grilling by MEPs.  At the last EU commissioners' grilling in 2019, three nominees were rejected - Hungary's, Romania's and France's.  Their respective countries had to replace the humiliated nominees.   This time round the international press listed Glenn Micallef as one of likeliest "to get the chop" citing his inexperience for a job often reserved for former Prime-ministers and other political heavyweights.

Robert Abela's ludicrously false claims have only made Glenn Micallef's life more difficult. Abela should have kept his laughable assertions to himself. Instead he's antagonised Croatia, which got the Mediterranean portfolio, by claiming that "Micallef's role will be more influential than the newly created portfolio for the Mediterranean".

Abela should have let Micallef react to the announcement of Malta's portfolio.  Micallef's reaction was measured and diplomatic: "It is a true privilege...I look forward to working with the European parliament and all stakeholders'.  The Maltese government's official response was appropriate too.  It congratulated Micallef and commented that the portfolio focused on "important topics that our country always emphasised at a national and EU level".  No hype, no hysteria, no lunacy and no affronts to fellow member states.

But then Robert Abela waded in and messed everything up. Why does he have to open his mouth? Every time he does he triggers a mix of hilarity, amusement, incredulity and ridicule amongst his European counterparts and intense embarrassment locally. More worryingly he damages Malta's interests further.

Abela couldn't keep quiet. He knew Malta's portfolio is one of the Commission's most insignificant, thanks to his clumsiness.  In her press conference Ursula von der Leyen only dedicated 3 short sentences to Malta's portfolio.  When the Opposition party congratulated Glenn Micallef and pointed out the bleeding obvious that "Robert Abela had placed himself in a weak position" by refusing to change his nominee, Abela went berserk.

The Labour party issued one of its cringeworthy ONE statements. It accused the PN that its comments were "an insult to youth by a sensationalist and petty opposition" - almost as sensational as claiming Malta got "one of the most powerful portfolios".

Nobody believes a word Abela says. You can't blame them. People just laugh at his loony nonsense.

Robert Abela's credibility has hit rock bottom.  He can't afford to make it worse, especially with his European colleagues.  One of his new deputy leaders or maybe his new party president should take him aside and ask him to keep quiet - for his own good and that of the country.