Watching the birth of a cabinet of ministers, including this one, is a bit like watching a horde of overgrown kids anxiously waiting to know what’s in their Easter egg. You never know if you’re in the PM’s good books, even after months of campaigning that saw some of his elected deputies distribute flyers, favours, jobs, unwritten assurances and, possibly, public alleyways to satiate the odd developer.

There were a couple of surprises once those eggs were cracked. First and foremost, Ian Borg, who had famously claimed that protests against the construction of his useless road in Dingli were a mere show of force “against Ian Borg in the town of Ian Borg”.

He may have shot through the first count in his hometown and clambered to a second seat on the Qormi district but on the day of his appointment as foreign minister there were none of the toothy smiles displayed in his school visits with President Emeritus Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, a vociferous opponent of his Mrieħel flyover.

Despite the weighty endorsements, it seems the former super-minister’s ways have also rubbed the PM, if not a substantial part of Labour’s rank and file, the wrong way. The honesty of those “exhibitionists’” actions has been vindicated by Abela and they stand to fight another legislature.

As a result of Borg’s booting to foreign affairs, another much-awaited change of the guard sees his godfather, Fredrick Azzopardi, move from road-building into catering. The tarmac tyrant will surely come in handy: aside from his experience in the construction of the perfect Black Forest, he’s the right man wherever the dough’s rising.

There was a general sigh of relief when it became known that Silvio Schembri wasn’t replacing him. Those who watched him stride into the Palace would be forgiven for thinking they changed channel to MTV Hits, as his golden-rimmed glasses and self-indulgent demeanour signalled the “humility” prescribed by Abela. He still holds on to Lands, a government body of interest to known vultures, quietly selling off public assets for a pittance.

Borg’s power depended on two behemoths.

Transport Malta, staffed by many of his acolytes, holds the fortunes generated by road, aviation and marine licensing. The other is Infrastructure Malta, created in 2017 – a year that saw Borg’s ascent to a portfolio that included Capital Projects, Planning and Lands – and which administered millions in EU and local funding, distributed in unorthodox fashion – sometimes irregularly – through scores of direct orders and bouncy tenders.

There were poisoned chali­ces in those Easter eggs, one of them reserved for Aaron Farrugia. Farrugia, who had started off as environment minister by reforming the fuel stations policy and shifting a few undesirables to minor PA boards, went on to lose his footing halfway through his stewardship, incensing the environmental lobby and, possibly, some developer bigwigs too. The new Transport boss has the daunting task of managing a huge workforce largely loyal to Borg and possibly pull the handbrake on IM’s arrogant steamrolling over farmers and residents.

An electoral reshuffle is not a good reason for anyone to stop watching. Let’s remain vigilant against the old energy of a tried and tested system- Wayne Flask

Whether this constitutes a mere substitution or a tangible improvement is on Farrugia. It depends on whether he’ll be the one directing Azzopardi’s successor, instead of the other way round, and on how he will administer a downsized €500m road-building fortune. Many expect to see Mrieħel and Burmarrad withdrawn, no more farmland taken up for roads, no more direct orders and – if we are not asking too much – a shift in culture on car usage.

Ian Borg was replaced by Aaron Farrugia (left), who is quite close to Joseph Portelli (right), who owns a football team in Farrugia’s constituency. Photo: Facebook

That said, there’s a Joseph Portelli who bids for roads as well. He’s the same Portelli who, besides being the owner of a football team in Farrugia’s constituency, brags about leaning on politicians for planning permits.

Another one to watch is Stefan Zrinzo Azzopardi, a relatively low-profile Labour MP who has kept clear of controversy. He got the classic misfortune cookie: the promotion of planning to its own ministry, where he’ll answer for the PA and the radioactivity it emits through its routine maladministration.

Here, too, it remains to be seen whether Zrinzo Azzopardi will let CEO Martin Saliba dictate the tempo, whether the PA will remain the developers’ favourite gentleman’s club, how the BCA will enforce and whether he will improve on Farrugia’s frustratingly sterile guardianship.

Sadly – here’s an Easter egg for us – the choice of these two comfortable ministers indicates the PM does not expect them to stand in his way of policy and practice. It would be dangerous to insist on the methods of the past, especially for someone like Abela who is so keen on stamping his own legat (legacy).

One who did avoid both flowered minefields was Miriam Dalli, who retained her energy portfolio and inherited the environment ministry from Farrugia.

There may be positives in the choice of a minister of her cali­bre, which, in the past, has been led by lacklustre statuettes like José Herrera and Michael Farrugia, who never set on fixing George Pullicino’s Local Plan massacre (2006) but signed off on countless other horror shows.

There’s a lot Dalli can achieve, beyond delivering urban greening projects. From the protection of our open public spaces to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and changing mentalities on projects that go directly against environmental well-being, the effectiveness of her work depends on her goodwill and initiative and the collaboration of many ministries and departments mentioned earlier.

New energy is needed more than ever. If politicians won’t rock the boat on environmental matters, they know civil society is well prepared in choppy seas. Dalli can fire her first flare by halting the Wied Żnuber madness in her own constituency.

But an electoral reshuffle is not a good reason for anyone to stop watching. Let’s remain vigilant against the old energy of a tried and tested system, which can strangle our quality of life at any time.