Former transport minister Aaron Farrugia has been approved as Malta's ambassador to the United Nations' maritime organisation, with opposition MPs voting against his appointment.
As a result of the vote, Farrugia will become Malta's permanent representative to the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) while retaining his parliamentary seat as a Labour MP.
He will be based in Malta but will frequently commute to the organisation's headquarters in London for technical meetings.
He will be responsible for representing Malta and safeguarding its interests in matters of international shipping regulations - a sector in which Malta is a prominent player.
Parliament's Public Appointments Committee approved his nomination on Monday, with government MPs Chris Agius, Andy Ellul, Clayton Bartolo and Amanda Spiteri Grech voting in favour and opposition MPs Karol Aquilina, Adrian Delia and Julie Zahra voting against.
Conflicting roles?
Farrugia was nominated for the role by the government just a few weeks after he was unceremoniously sacked as transport minister (which includes maritime affairs) during a January surprise cabinet reshuffle.
That move prompted political speculation about his performance and his relationship with the prime minister.
During Monday's relatively short grilling, opposition MPs said they had no doubt Farrugia had the credentials to be both a good MP and a good ambassador, but insisted that serving in both positions simultaneously was conflicting.
Delia even described it as "a little incestuous" and suggested that since the government seemed reluctant to force him to choose between the roles, maybe Farrugia himself should choose between them.
Last week, the Nationalist Party asked the Standards Commissioner to investigate Farrugia's nomination, describing it a "consolation prize" for his sacking from cabinet. The PN argued it was a fundamentally wrong decision that opposed the same commissioner's suggestion to end the practice of giving backbencher MPs consultancy jobs with the government.
But, on Monday, Farrugia insisted he saw no reason why he should step down as MP, and the prime minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Ian Borg supported his decision.
He also told MPs he is in the process of setting up a private company that will operate in the economic sector but assured them he will not be taking up any work that would give rise to conflicts of interest with his roles.
'I do not see anything wrong'
Opposition MPs reiterated that both the current and the former commissioners for standards in public life have recommended that MPs do not take up such roles while they serve on parliament's benches. But Farrugia said as long as parliament continues to operate on a part-time basis, MPs should have the rightful possibility to serve in other public and private sector roles.
"If we must discuss those recommendations, we must discuss MPs going full-time as well, which is another of the commissioner's recommendations. I feel parliament needs radical change, but we must discuss that issue in the context of an overhaul of MPs' responsibilities," he said.
"But as it stands, I do not see anything wrong with staying on (as an MP)."
Farrugia will be taking over from Ivan Sammut in the coming weeks. Sammut left the role to work at the maritime organisation’s Regional Marine Pollution Emergency Response Centre for the Mediterranean Sea.
Geopolitics, decarbonisation and autonomous ships
Farrugia told MPs some of the priorities of his new role include addressing ongoing geopolitical issues, following decarbonisation measures and other processes related to mitigating the climate crisis, and the digital transformation of the shipping world - a revolution that will soon see the introduction of autonomous ships.
Last month, prominent figures in the maritime sector told Times of Malta they would be pleased with Farrugia's appointment to the role, describing him as knowledgeable about the subject, has industry experience, and that his ministerial experience will help him fulfil the role even better.