Prime Minister Joseph Muscat has removed the justice portfolio from the Home Affairs Ministry and taken it under his wing.

The two were taking longer to get used to working with each other

In the first Cabinet reshuffle after only 100 days, Dr Muscat yesterday said the justice parliamentary secretariat led by Owen Bonnici would now be answerable to him.

Addressing the press outside Auberge de Castille to mark his Government’s first three months in office, Dr Muscat said he took the advice to split the home affairs and justice portfolios but did not elaborate.

The original decision to keep home affairs and justice under the same umbrella had raised eyebrows, especially after the Labour Party had opposed a similar arrangement under the previous administration.

The Prime Minister had originally defended the move, saying justice was being handled by Dr Bonnici despite falling under Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia.

However, sources said there was friction between Dr Mallia and Dr Bonnici that may have hastened the decision to split the portfolios.

A Government source said the tension was no different from that expected between a ministry and the secretariat falling under its wing. “But in this case the two were taking longer to get used to working with each other,” the source added.

Dr Mallia and Dr Bonnici are still expected to sit side by side in a public consultation exercise at Castille tomorrow that will tackle the home affairs and justice portfolios.

This is the second time in less than two years that these portfolios have been split.

In the previous legislature, under pressure from Nationalist backbencher Franco Debono and the Labour Opposition, former Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi removed the justice portfolio from Carm Mifsud Bonnici’s remit and created a new Justice Ministry under Chris Said.

At the time the Labour Party welcomed the move.

ksansone@timesofmalta.com