Updated August 10 with PN reaction
Randolph De Battista will no longer remain an MP after accepting to take on the role of ambassador to Geneva, Prime Minister Robert Abela said on Friday.
De Battista resigned as the Labour Party's CEO on Thursday and was replaced a day later by Leonid McKay. At the time, Debattista quit the job for unspecified reasons.
Leaving Labour's general conference on Friday evening, Abela said those who will no longer occupy a role in the Labour Party still have something to give, either to the party or the government.
"On the CEO of the Labour Party (De Battista) I can confirm he will take up the role of ambassador to Geneva," he said.
Geneva, in Switzerland, serves as the European headquarters of the United Nations and also hosts several UN institutions.
Asked to clarify if De Battista will remain an MP, Abela said, "the nature of that role speaks for itself". As a rule, ambassadors cannot also be members of parliament.
Abela denied that De Battista was being sidelined and said this was a role he was offered and accepted.
Abela and De Battista have reportedly had a frosty relationship in recent months. Last July, Abela admitted to having a "difference of opinion" with his then-CEO.
De Battista was also party CEO between 2017 and 2020 when Abela sacked him a few weeks into his tenure as prime minister.
Reacting on Saturday, the Nationalist Party said it was clear Robert Abela was willing to do away with the national interest in favour of quelling internal conflict within his political party.
Making Debattista an ambassador was a "slap in the face" to diplomats who were far more qualified for the role, said PN MP Beppe Fenech Adami.
'I am satisfied with what Rosianne told me'
News of De Battista's departure from parliament comes on the same day as Rosianne Cutajar's re-appointment to the PL parliamentary group.
Earlier this year, Abela publicly demanded an apology from Cutajar if she wished to rejoin the Labour parliamentary group.
When asked if Cutajar had finally apologised, the prime minister said:
"She spoke with me clearly before the parliamentary group earlier today, she made those declarations, and I was satisfied with what she said and addressed what I had spoken about earlier."
Abela did not answer when asked if Cutajar should make a public apology.
Cutajar resigned from the PL parliamentary group after succumbing to pressure following the publication of hundreds of messages between her and Yorgen Fenech.
Complained about being left out of cabinet, she told Fenech: “Now I’ve stopped giving a damn... I’ll become a consultant with Pierre of ITS, and pocket another wage.”
Cutajar then added: “I don’t care, everybody pigs out.”
In 2020 Cutajar resigned her post from parliamentary secretary, pending the outcome of an investigation by the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life. The National Audit Office later found her ITS job was fraudulent and irregular.
The former Qormi mayor remains popular in her constituency.
In January, Abela said Cutajar had paid a high enough political price and that it was time to "reconsider" her position, but later added that she would need to apologise before being allowed back into the party.
As she left the general conference Cutajar was also asked if she would apologise publicly, but did not answer saying instead "I have paid the highest political price".
During the extraordinary general meeting, the Labour Party executive agreed to change the statute to allow MPs to contest for the deputy leader role on Friday.