The Labour cabinet: wasting time on the public dime

Ten members of Joseph Muscat’s cabinet turned up to the Courts of Justice yesterday for an appeal hearing brought by the Labour Party – not the government – against a court ruling that the Nationalist Party should be allocated another two seats in parliament.

Their presence was not necessary – there are no witnesses in appeal hearings of this nature – and they were there only as a show of force. But they put up this show of force on the public’s time and the public dime. And worse than this, they turned up in their role as members of the cabinet of government for a case that involves the Labour Party.

The cabinet members in question are Owen Bonnici (Justice Minister), Edward Scicluna (Finance Minister), Chris Fearne (Health Minister), Chris Cardona (Economy Minister), Edward Zammit Lewis (Tourism Minister), Jose Herrera (Environment Minister), Carmelo Abela (Home Affairs Minister), and parliamentary secretaries Deborah Schembri, Chris Agius and Roderick Galdes.