In Labour’s new political vocabulary, a “solider of steel” has a different meaning to Dom Mintoff’s days. Whereas in the past it was attributed to someone, or a group of people, who remained steadfast in the face of adversity or sanction, today “soldier of steel” has come to mean a person who has done something wrong but who has, or is about to be, politically rehabilitated.

Neither Manuel Mallia nor, for that matter, Cyrus Engerer remained on the political sidelines for long after they were both censured, in the case of the former by the Prime Minister and of the second by the court. Mr Engerer has been given a highly paid job in Brussels, and Dr Mallia, a former home affairs minister, reappeared on the hustings five days before the local council elections and the hunting referendum.

One logical conclusion that may be drawn is that the sacking of Dr Mallia over his part in the Paul Sheehan shooting incident was a political mise-en-scene, carefully arranged for the government to ride over the storm that broke out over an attempted cover-up that also led to the removal of the acting police commissioner (though he retained his post as assistant commissioner).

An inquiry into the incident involving Mr Sheehan, the minister’s driver, found that the minister had failed to correct, in time, an official statement claiming that warning shots had been fired when the facts showed otherwise. The driver stands charged with the attempted murder of Stephen Smith after shooting at his car twice when it was alleged that Mr Smith hit the minister’s car before driving off.

The country was shocked to the bone at the attempted cover-up, one reason that made Dr Muscat demand the minister’s resignation. At least this is what the people were made to believe.

It would seem, however, that Dr Mallia is now inching his way back to the centre of power and it will not be surprising if he is given a top post again.

There has already been some speculation about this. In any case, the fact that he was allowed to speak at a party political meeting only a few days before the council elections suggests that Dr Muscat may have other plans for him in mind.

In the Prime Minister’s view, Dr Mallia had not been involved in any attempted cover-up but he should have ensured that the government statement about the incident was accurate. The government statement had initially said ­– falsely – that warning shots were fired, when the shots were in fact fired in the direction of the car.

The shooting put the police force in a bad light as the incident was seen as yet another glaring example of police arrogance. The case had continued to shake public confidence in the police.

The case of Mr Engerer is worse because he was convicted of a criminal offence over the distribution of pornography and handed a two-year suspended sentence. Instead of being politically sidelined, he has been made a special envoy to the Prime Minister on EU matters, a post that has put him on an ambassadorial salary grade with a package of about €85,000 a year.

When Mr Engerer withdrew his candidature for the election of the European Parliament, Dr Muscat raised quite a few eyebrows when he described him as a soldier of steel.

While it is not right to ostracise people who take a wrong turn, it is plain wrong for political parties to throw their moral compass overboard.