Aaron Farrugia, who was sacked from his ministerial post in last Saturday's cabinet reshuffle, has said that he respects the prime minister's decision. 

Farrugia was the only cabinet member left out in the cold following Robert Abela's reshuffle, with his transport and infrastructure portfolio handed to Chris Bonett. 

The decision means Farrugia will now serve on Labour's backbench. 

But the District 1 MP insists he harbours no ill will following the decision. 

“I heard the prime minister's comments. He said he wanted renewal, and that's what he did. It is the prerogative of the Prime Minister to choose his team, and I respect that," Farrugia said as he entered parliament on Monday. 

When pressed on how he felt, Farrugia quipped "backbencher". 

Farrugia dismissed speculation that the demotion was causing him to question whether or not to run for office in the next general election, which is years away. 

"All MPs thinks about that further down the line, and I will no doubt do so too," he said. 

Earlier on Monday, Abela told Times of Malta that Farrugia was not sacked because he was doing a bad job but because the government needed to “renew” itself.

“It’s not that something was wrong, but every prime minister, including my predecessors and successors, sometimes feel they need to make necessary changes to renew the government’s work. If you do not renew yourself, you become stagnant," he said.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, Farrugia said he will continue his work in parliament and that he remains proud that to have “served as Minister in the best way I could, in the same way that I have served in other portfolios.”.