New cabinet expected to be sworn in this evening

A new cabinet is expected to be sworn in at around 6 p.m. today, with the new ministers and parliamentary secretaries likely to be called to Castille by Lawrence Gonzi in the morning soon after he is sworn in as prime minister.

Eddie Fenech Adami will leave Castille for the last time as prime minister to call on President Guido de Marco at about 10.30 a.m. to hand in his resignation, sources said.

At this point, the term of office of all cabinet ministers expires. Dr Gonzi is expected to be sworn in at 11 a.m. when he is expected to go to the prime minister's office in Castille to call up the MPs who will form the new cabinet.

It is not clear what shape the new cabinet will take. One possibility is that there will be a major overhaul, with some ministers retiring to the backbenches, but this scenario is seen unlikely. Another is that some of the serving ministers will be assigned new portfolios while vacant seats will be filled by newcomers. Parliamentary secretaries may be elevated to minister.

Such views were "usually fuelled by the fears of those who think they may be left out and the wishes of those who wish to be included", the sources said.

The size of the cabinet is not expected to change, however. The outgoing cabinet is made up of 13 ministers, including the prime minister, and five parliamentary secretaries.

Other sources said there would be "changes with a message" in the new cabinet.

The political developments create two vacancies in the outgoing cabinet, that of Dr Gonzi, Minister for Social Policy, and Foreign Minister Joe Borg, who will be going to Brussels.

The expectations are that Dolores Cristina, parliamentary secretary in the social policy ministry, will replace Dr Gonzi and that John Dalli, now Minister of Finance, will be appointed minister of foreign affairs and investment.

Josef Bonnici and to a lesser extent Austin Gatt are both tipped as candidates for the finance ministry and Tonio Fenech and Helen D'amato are being mentioned as likely parliamentary secretaries.

The timesofmalta.com poll result was definitely in favour of change.

A total of 80 per cent of 1,200 respondents agreed with the question: "Should there be a major reshuffle in Lawrence Gonzi's Cabinet?" 15.2 per cent said 'no' while 4.7 per cent said 'not yet'.