Former parliamentary secretary Silvio Parnis plans to quit politics after he was left out the Cabinet in Saturday's reshuffle.  

Parnis on Saturday lost his post as Parliamentary Secretary for Active Ageing and Persons with Disability, with the portfolio being transformed into a ministry to be headed by Michael Farrugia, the former energy minister.   

He was the only member of the cabinet to be left out of Saturday's reshuffle. 

A message sent by Parnis to close aides and friends on Saturday evening, seen by Times of Malta, details how Parnis had fallen out with Prime Minister Robert Abela in recent weeks.  

“Hand on heart, I can say that I always did my best. The curtain has been drawn on my political life. I will not contest another election,” the message reads.  

Contacted on Sunday, Parnis declined to comment. 

Parnis had enjoyed notable electoral popularity in the fourth district having served as a backbench MP for some 20 years. 

In January Abela gave him his first crack at a cabinet post and put him in charge of the elderly - a portfolio traditionally viewed as uneventful.  

However, the outbreak of COVID-19 in a number of old people’s homes in recent weeks saw Parnis put under pressure and made to answer for healthcare standards and safety in the facilities he was responsible for.  

An investigation is underway into an outbreak in two homes that led to the deaths of 13 residents.

Parnis also faced calls for his resignation after Malta registered the second-highest rate of elderly coronavirus patients in Europe. 

He had previously been appointed chairman of the consultative council for the south of Malta during the Joseph Muscat administration.