The luggage at Palazzo Ferreria in Valletta will not be packed until January when Social Policy Minister John Dalli leaves for the Berlaymont Building in Brussels. Kurt Sansone analyses the implications of Mr Dalli's nomination as EU Commissioner.
Mr Dalli yesterday refrained from sounding the death knell to his political career despite accepting the nomination to be Malta's second EU Commissioner, insisting "nobody can foretell the future".
"There are numerous cases where commissioners have returned to domestic politics based on the considerations of the moment," he said, barely 24 hours after his nomination was made public by the Office of the Prime Minister.
His was not the answer the Nationalist Party leadership may have wanted to hear, even if Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi was yesterday adamant to quash the interpretation that Mr Dalli was being "kicked upstairs".
In a move from decisions affecting less than 500,000 citizens to ones that will impinge on the lives of half a billion Europeans, Mr Dalli's new post is influential. Yet, his nomination has all the undertones of political sidelining.
The European scene is peppered with examples of EU commissioners who went on to make political comebacks in their countries. Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini and Italian Senate member Emma Bonino are two such politicians who returned to domestic politics after serving in Brussels.
However, in a domestic political scenario that is district-based, five years in Brussels would serve to alienate electors accustomed to meeting their representatives on a regular basis. That's apart from the fact that, come next election, Mr Dalli will be half-way through his Brussels term and approaching 65.
With only one serving Maltese commissioner since EU membership, tradition has not yet set in this respect but the odds of seeing Mr Dalli making a domestic political comeback seem remote.
In this context, his appointment has all the marks of a polite kick upstairs, a choice based on political considerations more than anything else.
Mr Dalli yesterday played down the impression that the Prime Minister's decision to nominate him for the post of EU commissioner was meant to get him out of the political loop, insisting his new posting was not ceremonial and carried with it a lot of responsibility and new challenges.
"This is what motivated me to accept the nomination," he said.
It still has to be seen what portfolio Mr Dalli will hold because the matter is "still up for discussion". According to one Nationalist backbencher, who had supported Dr Gonzi in the leadership race, the chances of landing a meaningful portfolio would have been higher had the Prime Minister opted for the incumbent Joe Borg.
"It is an open secret that Commission President José Manuel Barroso wanted Dr Borg to serve a second term, which would have put him in a better position to take on a higher profile portfolio," the backbencher said, arguing it made more sense to have Mr Dalli in the Cabinet.
"Unfortunately, Dr Gonzi's choice was influenced by a clash of characters that goes back to a time when Mr Dalli was treated very badly by the party. A judicious analysis would conclude Mr Dalli's experience is more useful for Malta as a Cabinet minister," he said.
The only explanation Dr Gonzi gave for not re-appointing Dr Borg was a "need for change" even though, in the Prime Minister's words, the outgoing commissioner served with "distinction".
Other backbenchers, who spoke to The Times on condition of anonymity, were convinced the decision was politically motivated. "Cabinet will lose an experienced minister at an important juncture," another said.
Their views were reflected by columnist and former Labour minister Lino Spiteri. Writing in The Times on Monday, Mr Spiteri suggested that what probably made up Dr Gonzi's mind about the nomination were "domestic considerations".
"Mr Dalli is an important cog in the Cabinet. It is clear, however, that he and Dr Gonzi are not exactly bosom friends. The revelation by Mr Dalli that Nationalist backbenchers see him as some sort of a father confessor was probably a strong input in the Prime Minister's calculations," Mr Spiteri said, referring to an interview Mr Dalli gave MaltaToday in October.
Perhaps more telling than his admission of being a "father confessor" for disgruntled backbenchers, in the same interview Mr Dalli had insisted the PN was a party of free thinkers and "never a herd of goats".
"I am not a goat that follows the shepherd," he had said, a comment interpreted by many at Pietà headquarters as a sign of open defiance towards the Prime Minister.
Maybe Dr Gonzi could not afford to have his leadership undermined by "goats" that wandered off in different directions and has sought to placate the friction by sending Mr Dalli to Brussels.
Whether that "goat" will wander off into oblivion will have to be seen but, in the meantime, the Prime Minister still has to contend with an edgy backbench waiting eagerly for a Cabinet reshuffle. Dr Gonzi yesterday poured cold water on major Cabinet changes, insisting the country needed stability. Some changes would have to be made but how deep they will be depends on his political will to please or alienate an unhappy backbench.