Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1542674
12 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 18 JANUARY 2026 NEWS Prime minister opens up migration, planning reform In an unprecedented hour-long discussion inside the MaltaToday newsroom, Prime Minister Robert affordability; from immigration to planning reform, and public projects like Manoel Island and Ta' Qali, IT'S not every day that the prime minis- ter asks for an audience with your news- room. He's someone we normally have to seek out on the steps of Castille or by the parliament barriers. This time, he came to our newsroom and spent an hour and a bit more, answering our questions. He came to our office at 10am on Wednesday, his full communications team in tow. He greeted everyone as we prepared an espresso for him to sip on. Af- ter the initial chit-chat, we settled around our desks, started a voice memo record- ing on my mobile phone, and spent the next hour asking questions and speaking our mind about the issues of today. This is how the discussion played out. Budget not election The question on everyone's mind is whether the election is happening this year or the next. Our Executive Editor Kurt Sansone put it to him straight and plain: "Are you still ruling out a March election?" "To this day, my focus is October 2026, the day of the budget. I want a strong budget. The present focus is the geopolit- ical situation," he said. Greenland maybe election After Abela mentioned geopolitical de- velopments, Online Editor Karl Azzopar- di asked him about Greenland and Don- ald Trump's repeated declarations that he wants it. Abela said the biggest question on his mind is whether the icy Danish territory is subject to the EU treaty. "It's not a Eu- ropean territory in the sense it being an oversees territory," he pointed out. And Abela is not too concerned about a physical attack by the US on Greenland, especially with American bases already on the territory. Rather, the EU is adopt- ing a wait-and-see approach. "Some say we should be a bit more direct or clear, but I think we should be cautious. That doesn't mean we can't show solidarity with Denmark. Having said that, what do the people of Greenland want?" Senior journalist James Debono briefly went back to Abela's comment about the election, and how international develop- ments could affect political choices local- ly, even possibly the date of an election. Abela made it clear that he has a five- year mandate, and to this day, the cir- cumstances don't suggest to him that he should call an early election. "But things can change," he said, keeping a door open. "There might come a moment when I feel that I need a new mandate. So far, I'm ex- cluding it. But what the national interest dictates could change from day to day." Planning reform awaits convergence James Debono led the discussion on planning reform. Abela was keen to hear his thoughts about the government's planning reform proposals. "What do you think?" he asked. Debono told him the reform appears to be unfinished business. "Will you finalise this before the election?" he asked. Abela said it would be difficult to finalise the reform because there has been little convergence on the proposed legislation, and it doesn't seem like an agreement will be secured any time soon. Debono recalled the point of the re- form was to give the planning process some certainty, yet some clauses in the proposed law create more uncertainty by granting stronger powers to certain deci- sion-making boards. Abela brought up an example of two identical planning applications for two fuel stations. "In one case, the court said one policy should be applied. In the other case, the court said another policy should be applied. I rang up a lawyer, who hap- pened to be party to both cases, asking for an explanation. To this day I still don't know why [the court decided as it did]. And the decisions come from the same judge." He said this is the kind of uncer- tainty that exists in the planning process today. "In an ideal world, the local plans would be revised. By law, this should happen from time to time. This never happened, and it takes a long time. And some argue that we need some certainty before this process can happen," Abela said. He added the government doesn't have any red lines on the reform and is open to changes. He also said the two bills, one containing changes to the appeals sys- tem and the other impacting the wider planning process, have to be considered together. "We've met with all of the NGOs that have been vociferous. There are points that have been left out and other points we're still discussing. If we don't find gen- eral convergence, I won't force anything. I won't steamroll over anyone," the prime minister insisted. When Kurt asked about retiring the bills from parliament altogether as a sign of goodwill, Abela insisted that having the bills on the parliamentary agenda does not preclude stakeholder discussions to make the changes stronger. Top appointments In 2025, the Nationalist Party voted in Alex Borg as its new leader, succeeding Bernard Grech. Karl asked Abela about his relationship with Borg as the new leader of the Opposition, and how this compares to his relationship with Ber- nard Grech and briefly with Adrian Delia. "I have a good relationship with Alex Borg. I had a good relationship with Adri- an Delia. I also had a good relationship with Bernard Grech. The only sour epi- sode with him was when appointing the new president. I had presented a name to him twice and then he told this person's family that they were not being men- tioned. Other than that, we didn't have any other major episodes," Abela said. He said there are sensitive discussions taking place between the government and the Opposition to appoint a new chief jus- tice and auditor general, although he was surprised to hear Alex Borg tell the press last Sunday that he wasn't approached to discuss these new appointments. "First, these discussions happen be- tween the respective counterparts, in this case the justice spokespeople. These dis- cussions are happening on the two roles. NICOLE MEILAK nmeilak@mediatoday.com.mt