Whether journalists were intentionally misled into reporting that a “major” cabinet reshuffle, with several changes, was taking shape in Castille is immaterial. The fact is it was no reshuffle, certainly not a reorganisation of cabinet responsibilities, much less an exercise “to make [the] necessary changes to renew the government’s work”, as Robert Abela claimed.

A prime minister’s prerogative to decide who sits on his cabinet is not being questioned. However, the changes made can hardly be considered as falling within the description of a ministerial reshuffle as such.

Cabinet reorganisations usually occur for various reasons. A prime minister might want to ensure all his ministers share his vision – in Abela’s case it is unclear what that really is – or fire those that may be shackling the government’s agenda. He might also want to downgrade underperforming cabinet members.

Abela may well have been settling scores with Aaron Farrugia when he dropped him as transport minister.

Jeffrey Curmi, let us not forget, had resigned his post as CEO at Transport Malta just 11 months into his three-year contract claiming the minister asked him to move out of the way. Farrugia offered him the possibility of moving to another government entity, but he refused and the prime minister then appointed him an ambassador.

So Abela may have wanted to get even with Farrugia, though the prime minister did say the sacked minister was not doing a bad job. Changing a minister was not a judgment on the way they were doing their job, Abela argued. Of course, that does not necessary mean there are no other plans for Farrugia in the pipeline. Abela has a knack for ‘rehabilitating’ politicians caught with their pants down.

It would take a big effort and extend one’s imagination by quite a stretch to start thinking of this so-called ‘reshuffle’ being motivated by a need of policy alignment, political strategy or, indeed, refreshing the government

It would take a big effort and extend one’s imagination by quite a stretch to start thinking of this so-called ‘reshuffle’ being motivated by a need of policy alignment, political strategy or, indeed, refreshing the government.

It is worrying to see Clint Camilleri, the Gozo minister, now responsible for the delicate planning sector. It was baffling to see backbenchers walking into Castille and leaving empty-handed, presumably after they turned down an offer.

Meanwhile, Cabinet members linked with some of the worst cases of corruption and abuse have not been touched.

Rather than taking the opportunity to weed out ‘bad elements’, Abela opted to bring in politicians like Glenn Bedingfield, who features prominently in the public inquiry into Daphne Caruana Galizia’s assassination. The real motive behind this move is, thus, unclear. It could well have been a case of settling scores. Or, perhaps, rewarding blind loyalty, as in the case of Bedingfield and the new parliamentary secretaries. It is also increasingly clear that Abela is trying to drum up support from the Joseph Muscat camp ahead of the European elections by rewarding MPs known to be close to the former prime minister. Saying that this reshuffle was meant to “renew” the government is rather rich.

At the end of the day, we are left with a bloated Cabinet, the largest in Malta’s history. It is set to cost the taxpayer as much as €15.9 million per year, that’s €800,000 more a year than the previous one. Abela persists in pursuing his ‘continuity’ policy, refusing to adapt, even when the record and polls clearly indicate he is failing.

He ought to bear in mind two lines from Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa’s Il Gattopardo: “If we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change” and “if you don’t change, time will change you”.