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Robert Abela

Also Known As Abela

prime minister of Malta

Education

  • law - University of Malta
  • Graduated - 2002

Overview

Robert Abela is a Maltese lawyer and politician who has served as prime minister of Malta and leader of Labour Party since 2020. The son of former President George Abela, he was elected to Parliament in 2017. Abela was sworn in as prime minister following the resignation of Joseph Muscat on 13 January 2020.

Politics :

Abela became involved in politics while his father George Abela was deputy party leader, supporting the party in the 1996 general election. He claimed that he started off transporting sick people to the polling stations in 1996, and worked behind the scenes for many years in other roles, such as representing the party on current affairs programmes as requested by Joseph Muscat and lately as his legal advisor in Cabinet. He also supported his father in the failed Labour leadership bid against Joseph Muscat in 2008, after Alfred Sant's resignation. 

On 25 January 2017, Abela highlighted that a patch of land in his native Qormi was seriously undervalued during the previous Partit Nazzjonalista administration, where contractors paid €0.9 million instead of the full value of €8 million.

Abela was described as appealing to voters with no political ties, as well as the perfect replacement to attract Marie Louise Coleiro Preca's votes in the sixth district of Siggiewi, Luqa and Qormi. He had already been approached; however, he chose his legal profession over politics.

Member of the Parliament of Malta :

In June 2017, at the age of 40, he was elected to the Parliament of Malta after his first attempt at contesting the sixth district, including Siggiewi, Luqa and Qormi, was successful. He also served as legal adviser to the Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, which enabled him to attend the meetings of the Council of Ministers. The Opposition claimed that his private consultancy contracts with the Planning Authority and Transport Malta earned him at least €580,000. 

In October 2019 Abela stated that more Police were needed on Malta's streets to tackle residents' migration-related concerns.

In his years at the Parliament, Abela was never an outspoken critic of Muscat; in the fallout of the Daphne Caruana Galizia murder, he remarked that he would have "acted earlier" to remove minister Konrad Mizzi and chief of staff Keith Schembri from their posts had he been the leader.

Leader of Labour Party and Prime Minister :

At the internal party elections on 12 January 2020, Abela obtained 9,342 votes against 6,798 for Chris Fearne. Over 92% of MLP members cast their vote in party clubs across the country. Abela was thus proclaimed new leader of the Labour Party.

The following day Joseph Muscat resigned from the post of Prime Minister. President George Vella accepted Muscat's resignation and appointed Abela as new Prime Minister of Malta. His first official appointment was that of Clyde Caruana as his chief of staff.

Early Life

Robert Abela Born 7 December 1977 in Sliema in the Northern Harbour District, to George Abela, former President of Malta (2009–2014) and his wife Margaret (née Cauchi). Abela grew up with his sister Marija in Għaxaq and Marsaskala in the south of Malta. Their mother, Margaret, worked in the administration of the Old University in Valletta and later managed the family's law firm. Robert attended the Sisters' School in Santa Luċija and St Francis primary school in Bormla, to then continue secondary school and sixth form at St Aloysius' College. 

A football player in his youth, he played in goal for the national youth team. Abela also practised bodybuilding, competing twice in the national championships in the late 1990s.

Abela studied law at the University of Malta, where he met his future wife Lydia. He graduated in 2002. Following his graduation, he worked in the family's Abela Advocates law firm, specialising in industrial and labour law. His law firm's contract with Malta's Planning Authority predates Labour's election in 2013 and has been renewed yearly since. Abela has been criticised for benefiting from direct orders for legal services for public entities, including Enemalta and Transport Malta. In 2018, Robert Abela declared that no conflict of interest arose from his acting as legal representative of Air Malta while his father, former President George Abela, was the mediator and chief negotiator in talks with its pilots. After 2013, Abela Advocates held a licence (IIP 161) for the sale of Maltese citizenship (Individual Investors Programme), in the name of Robert's wife Lydia. The licence was dropped in early 2020 once Abela became Prime Minister.

Career

  • Malta - prime minister

Recognition

National honours :

Malta: Companion of Honour of the National Order of Merit (2020) by right as a Prime Minister of Malta

Reference

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