The new role of “government spokesman” given to Labour Whip Carmelo Abela in the Cabinet reshuffle is not yet clear even though the affable Żejtun MP is looking forward to starting the job.

Speaking to Times of Malta yesterday, Mr Abela said his post was a new one and he did not form part of the executive.However, he said he would be working in “close contact with the Prime Minister” from Castille.

“I will be working in the Office of the Prime Minister and will be acting according to his instructions. However, I will not be part of his secretariat as I’m a politician. So, I won’t be a member of Dr Muscat’s staff.”

Saying he would be staying on as government whip, Mr Abela, a banker by profession, added that he would play a different role to the Prime Minister’s communications coordinator.

Asked what his precise nomenclature within the government would be, if he was neither a parliamentary secretary nor a minister, he said the new role would be better defined over the next few weeks.

He said he did not even know what his salary for the full-time post would be.

Mr Abela has been in Parliament since 1996 and had also served as deputy speaker when Labour was in Opposition. He currently works as a supervisor at HSBC.

This is the first time that the government has appointed one of its MPs as a spokesman without giving him an executive position.

In 2008, Chris Said was nominated as parliamentary secretary for public dialogue and government spokesman with direct responsibility for the Department of Information.

In order to appease many of his backbenchers, former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi had also introduced the role of parliamentary assistants with MPs attached to different ministries.

However, these were not full-time posts as the one to be occupied by Mr Abela.