When Gerald Ford was sworn in as US president after Richard Nixon’s resignation, he told the American public their “long national nightmare” was over.

The American people had been through months of chaos brought on by the Watergate scandal and it was time for a fresh start.

Robert Abela’s first days in office, taking over from Joseph Muscat, were meant to shake the country out of its own political nightmare following claims of high-level corruption and the car bomb assassination of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia together with its links to senior members of government. After months of tension, Muscat’s once-golden era had come crashing down.

Abela came out of nowhere, a relatively unknown MP living under the shadow of his father, a former president. But the lawyer appealed to the party faithful and managed to beat favourite Chris Fearne, despite almost completely shunning the press.

The ink proclaiming him as Malta’s 14th prime minister was barely dry when he named Clyde Caruana as head of secretariat at the Office of the Prime Minister, doing away with the tainted office of the ‘chief of staff’ title previously held by Keith Schembri.

He sent the right signals to critics when he left out Konrad Mizzi and Chris Cardona from his cabinet of ministers and booted out Neville Gafà from his office.

The embattled police commissioner, known for his failure to investigate claims of high-level corruption, was packing his bags. The prime minister also made it clear that the makeshift memorial to Caruana Galizia would not be touched. In days, even Abela’s staunchest critics were surprised with some of his moves. He did not have the oratory skills of his predecessor but his actions were starting to convey a message: that he intended turning over a new leaf.

The honeymoon, however, was short lived. 

Barely two months into his term, Abela had to deal with his first major crisis after a construction accident left a mother of two buried, rekindling the reality of a sector often perceived to be out of control. 

The tragedy held up a mirror to Maltese society, the pursuit of quick profits through endless construction at the expense of the environment. A reform introduced just six months earlier had to be revisited.

As the coronavirus reached our shores, Abela had the unenviable job of navigating an unprecedented crisis. 

He was criticised for failing to take swift response to the COVID-19 outbreak, especially after appearing to have delayed a travel ban and granting aid to businesses. Within days, he managed to forge a new, much-improved aid package that was backed by social partners.

With most of the country cooped up indoors, hunters were once again given the concession to practise their hobby, reflecting a prime minister who again is scared of taking on a vociferous lobby. And then came his handling of a crisis within a crisis. As fine weather brought with it the first wave of migrants from Africa, Abela took the drastic decision to shut Malta’s ports to new arrivals, on grounds that its resources were stretched because of COVID-19.

While it is unclear whether it was this decision that caused the deaths of at least five people left stranded at sea, it has undoubtedly fuelled the alarming anti-migrant sentiment and right-wing rhetoric. His decision to call a news conference on prime time TV last Friday in reaction to Repubblika’s request to investigate him in connection with the migrants’ deaths showed a prime minister who acts on instinct, does not choose his words carefully, and who still has to come to terms that he is a prime minister for all of the country.

Prime ministers are judged on moments of crisis, even if they are still trying to find their feet in office.