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Robert Abela

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The Honourable
Robert Abela
MP
14th Prime Minister of Malta
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 13, 2020
PresidentGeorge Vella
Preceded byJoseph Muscat
Leader of the Labour Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
January 12, 2020
Preceded byJoseph Muscat
Member of Parliament
Incumbent
Assumed office
June 4, 2017
Personal details
Born (1977-06-22) June 22, 1977 (age 47)
Qormi, Malta
Political partyPartit Laburista
SpouseLydia Abela
Children1
Parent(s)George Abela and Margaret Abela
Alma materUniversity of Malta
ProfessionLawyer

Robert Abela (born 22 June 1977)[1] is a Maltese lawyer and politician, son of former President of Malta George Abela, and Prime Minister of Malta. A member of Parliament since 2017, he replaced Joseph Muscat as Leader of the Partit Laburista following the party's internal leadership election held on 11 January 2020, and was instated as Prime Minister on 13 January.

Early life, family and professional career

Born in Qormi in 1977 to former President of Malta George Abela and his wife Margaret (née Cauchi),[2] Robert Abela grew up in the south of Malta, in Għaxaq and Marsaskala together with his sister Marija. Their mother, Margaret, worked in the administration of the Old University in Valletta and later managed the family's law firm. Robert attended the Sister’s School in Santa Luċija and St Francis primary school in Bormla, to then continue secondary school and sixth form at St Aloysius' College.[3] A football player in his youth (he also took part as goalkeeper in the national youth team),[3] Abela also practiced bodybuilding, competing twice in the national championships in the late 1990s.[4][5]

Abela studied Law at the University of Malta, where he met his future wife Lydia. He graduated in 2002 and started working in the family's Abela Advocates law firm,[3] specialising in industrial and labour law.[6] Since before the Labour's election to power in 2013, his law firm has had a contract with Malta's Planning Authority, renewed yearly since. Abela has been criticised for benefitting from direct orders for legal services for public entities,[7] including Enemalta and Transport Malta.[8] In 2018 Robert Abela there was no conflict of interest for him to act as legal representative of Air Malta while his father, former President George Abela, was acting as mediator and chief negotiator in talks with pilots.[9]

In 2008 he married Lydia Abela, secretary of the Labour Party executive committee, with whom he has a daughter named Giorgia Mae, born in 2012.[10]

Politics

Robert Abela started to get involved in politics while his father George Abela was deputy party leader, supporting the party in the 1996 general election. [3] He claimed that he “started off transporting sick people to the polling stations in 1996, and kept working behind the scenes for many years in other roles such as representing the party on current affairs programmes as requested by Dr Muscat and lately as his legal advisor in Cabinet.”[10] He also supported his father in the failed Labour leadership bid against Joseph Muscat in 2008, after Alfred Sant's resignation.[3]

On January 25, 2017, Abela highlighted that a patch of land in his native Qormi was seriously undervalued during the previous Partit Nazzjonalista administration, where contractors paid €0.9 million instead of the full value €8 million.[11]

Abela was described as appealing to voters with no political ties, as well as the perfect replacement to attract Marie Louise Coleiro Preca's votes in the sixth district of Siggiewi, Luqa and Qormi. He had already been approached however he chose his legal profession over politics.[12]

In June 2017, he was elected to the Parliament of Malta after contesting for the first time the sixth district, including Siggiewi, Luqa and Qormi. He was elected for the first time at the age of 40.[13] He also served as legal adviser to the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat,[3] which enabled him to attend the meetings of the Council of Ministers.[6] Opposition claimed that his private consultancy contracts with the Planning Authority and Transport Malta earned him at least 580,000 €.[8]

In September 2019 Abela called for a more "hardline" approach to migration, following unrest in Malta's Hal Safi immigration detention centre. His rhetoric was likened by the Maltese press to that of Italy's Matteo Salvini.[14]

In his years at the Parliament, Abela was never an outspoken critic of Muscat; in the fallout of the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder, he remarked that he would have “acted earlier” to remove minister Konrad Mizzi and chief of staff Keith Schembri from their posts if he was leader.[10]

2020 Labour leadership race

Main articles: 2019 Malta political crisis and Maltese protests (2019–present)

Following the announcement of Joseph Muscat's upcoming resignation due to the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia and the ensuing protests, deputy prime minister Chris Fearne was considered the front-runner to replace Muscat as leader of the party and Prime Minister, and other hopefuls (including Ian Borg and Miriam Dalli) were reportedly pressured not to run in order to allow a quick transition by Christmas 2019 with the formality of a vote by party members for a single candidate.[10] Robert Abela remarked that he did not want to be a part of any “diabolical pact”, and presented his candidacy as an alternative to Chris Fearne.[15][16][17] However, according to James Debono, Abela was soon recognised as the "continuity" candidate instead of Fearne, emphasizing stability, unity and normality, as opposed to the bolder changes advocated by Fearne.[18]

Abela's leadership campaign was focused on party members and aimed at striking a chord with the traditional Labour themes (social housing, free medicines for the elderly and better employment conditions for blue-collar workers)[6][19] while distancing himself from the coziness of Muscat with big business.[10] He also called for a crack-down on cheap labour migrant workers, who he accused of repressing local salaries, by proposing that employers be allowed to hire foreigners only if able to pay them fully on the books and while respecting work condition regulations.[20] He also guaranteed the continuation of Malta's controversial citizenship-by-investment programme.[19]

Abela, a backbencher with no ministerial experience, presented himself as a candidate of continuity, pledging to maintain the same cabinet as Muscat's, as well as the same staff at the powerful Office of the Prime Minister, in opposition to Chris Fearne, whose campaign for a clean slate at Castille created apprehension among insiders.[10]

Abela was openly critical of the 2019 Malta political crisis surrounding the Daphne Caruana Galizia carbombing.[21] In fact, on 28 November 2019, he claimed that the Labour Party would need deep rooted changes rather than superficial ones.[22] Abela also claimed that the only purpose of the 2019 Maltese protests was provocation.[23]

Abela also stated that his family law firm - headed by his wife - should retain the right to bid for public tenders, should he take up office.[7] Following controversies,[24] he later backtracked and committed not to seek public contracts for his family law firm.[9]

His campaign was criticised for not accepting any interview from the independent press, but only relying on Labour-friendly media outlets.[25]

At the internal party elections on 12 January 2020, Abela obtained 9,342 votes against 6,798 for Chris Fearne. Over 92% of MLP members cast their vote in party clubs across the country.[10] His victory was hailed by Neville Gafa as a victory for the continuity promised.[26]

References

  1. ^ https://timesofmalta.com/articles/view/robert-abela-from-backbencher-to-prime-minister.762462
  2. ^ "Robert Abela elected - Four former presidents' sons may make it to the House". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  3. ^ a b c d e f TVM
  4. ^ Lovin Malta
  5. ^ Evolution Bodybuilding
  6. ^ a b c New York Times
  7. ^ a b Malta Independent
  8. ^ a b Times of Malta
  9. ^ a b Times of Malta
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Times of Malta
  11. ^ "Watch - Updated (2): 'Vassallo lied about paying Marsovin €8m for Lowenbrau land' - Robert Abela - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  12. ^ "Jibdew il-manuvri, jissemmew l-ewwel ismijiet". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  13. ^ "Watch: Nine new faces in parliament so far". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  14. ^ Malta Independent
  15. ^ "Robert Abela to contest PL leadership election - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  16. ^ "Robert Abela to run for Labour leader". Times of Malta. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  17. ^ "Labour MP Robert Abela announces Labour leadership bid". MaltaToday.com.mt. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  18. ^ James Debono on Malta Today
  19. ^ a b Times of Malta
  20. ^ Lovin Malta
  21. ^ "Robert Abela launches scathing attack on 'devilish' Labour leadership pact - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  22. ^ Bonnici, Julian (2019-11-28). "'We Don't Need Cosmetic Changes, We Need Changes To Our Very Foundations': Labour MP Robert Abela Issues Rallying Cry Amid Political Crisis". Lovin Malta. Retrieved 2019-12-09.
  23. ^ "Protests' only purpose now is provocation - Robert Abela". Times of Malta. Archived from the original on 12 December 2019. Retrieved 2019-12-12.
  24. ^ NewsBook
  25. ^ Malta Independent
  26. ^ Facebook: Neville Gafa
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