Prime Minister Robert Abela has dismissed concerns that Gavin Gulia’s resignation seconds after being sworn in as an MP flew in the face of democratic norms.

Gulia was re-elected to parliament on Tuesday to fill the seat vacated by former finance minister Edward Scicluna, now governor of the Central Bank. He was sworn in on Wednesday but immediately resigned, saying Abela had asked him to stay on as Malta Tourism Authority chairman. 

There was fear that the seat which Gulia won could go to former Rabat mayor Charles Azzopardi, who fell out with the Labour Party and is now a lifelong PN member. 

Gulia's immediate resignation drew criticism from Opposition MPs, who accused the Labour Party of disregarding democratic principles. 

Speaking on Friday, Abela argued that an identical co-option procedure was used so that former Opposition leader Adrian Delia and his successor Bernard Grech could take up a seat in parliament. 

“The mechanism is set out in the law,” Abela argued. 

The Prime Minister said it was undemocratic to have a Labour seat “stolen” by the Opposition, in reference to Azzopardi contesting the casual election. 

Abela also confirmed that disability commissioner Oliver Scicluna will be nominated to take up the seat vacated by Gulia, as Times of Malta had revealed on Wednesday.

He said the discussion on Scicluna’s co-option will take place in the PL’s parliamentary group on Friday evening. The matter will also be referred to the party’s executive, Abela said. 

In recent months, Abela has set about ensuring that a number of loyalists take up seats in parliament. 

His former chief of staff Clyde Caruana and former MEP Miriam Dalli were co-opted to parliament last October, taking up the seats vacated by former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and MP Etienne Grech.