Aaron Farrugia bows out, will not contest election
Former minister was first elected in 2017
Aaron Farrugia will not be contesting the upcoming general election.
The Labour MP and former minister, 46, did not figure among the list of candidates who submitted a nomination to contest the May 30 election by the time nominations closed on Monday evening.
The decision confirms Farrugia's decision to break with frontline politics following his relegation to the Labour backbench in 2024.
An economist by training, Farrugia has been active in the Labour Party since his youth, having led the Labour Youth Forum before serving as deputy mayor of Ta’ Xbiex and co-founding the party think-tank Fondazzjoni IDEAT.
He was elected to parliament for the first time in 2017 and was appointed parliamentary secretary for European funds and social dialogue.
In 2020, he was promoted to cabinet as environment, climate change and planning minister, becoming one of the younger faces in Robert Abela’s first cabinet.
Following the 2022 general election, Farrugia was made transport, infrastructure and capital projects minister, taking over one of the government’s most high-profile portfolios at a time of growing public frustration over traffic, roadworks and Transport Malta.
That year, he came under criticism after suggesting village feasts were among the causes of traffic jams, a comment he later said he regretted making.
His time at Transport Malta was also marked by turbulence at the authority, including questions over the departure of its former CEO Jeffrey Curmi, who later told MPs Farrugia had asked him to “move out of the way”.
Farrugia was removed from cabinet in a surprise reshuffle in January 2024, with Prime Minister Robert Abela saying the decision was not because he had done a bad job but because the government needed “renewal”.
He was subsequently appointed as Malta’s permanent representative to the International Maritime Organisation, while retaining his parliamentary seat.
Although ostensibly an MP, Farrugia very conspicuously distanced himself from politics following the disappointment of that reshuffle. He did not ask any parliamentary questions during his time as a backbench MP and has not posted about politics in more than two years, instead travelling across the globe to drum up business for his private practice.
Farrugia now joins a growing list of MPs elected in 2022 who will not be seeking re-election in the May 30 snap election.