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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 30 MARCH 2014 3 News Farrugia says he wants to 'make Malta Taghna Lkoll a reality' PAGE 1 Earlier this month, Mal- taToday revealed that following a year in which Farrugia's stew- ardship came under criticism by stakeholders, he was now set to be removed as health minister and re- place Coleiro Preca as social policy minister. In his resignation letter, Farrugia ended on an acerbic note, telling Muscat, "I therefore return this re- sponsibility to you, since you feel that I should do so." Speaking exclusively to Malta- Today, a defiant Farrugia said that he had absolutely no intention of fading away into the backbench wilderness. "I'm staying in the Labour move- ment… I'm going to make sure the 'Malta For All' (Malta Tagħna Lkoll) election slogan actually be- comes a reality," he said, an obvi- ous reference to the meritocracy slogan that critics say is now some- thing of a joke. Farrugia tendered his resignation after a year in which his steward- ship came under vehement criti- cism by stakeholders, especially from nurses' union boss Paul Pace. Yesterday morning, Farrugia took all confidential files and papers in his possession to the health minis- try in Merchants Street in Valletta, to deposit them with a senior of- ficial. "I found two employees there and left all the papers to a senior offi- cial. I don't think they were aware of my intentions," he told Malta- Today. He then proceeded unan- nounced to the Auberge de Cas- tille, and asked for the Prime Min- ister. There, he passed by the side door and took the elevator up to the Office of the Prime Minister accompanied by a soldier. He was informed that the Prime Minister would only be at the office in the afternoon after 2pm. He left an en- velope with a messenger and told him to pass it on urgently to the Prime Minister. On leaving the Office of the Prime Minister, he sent an SMS to Muscat informing him of his deci- sion. And the only conversation that took place between the two – perhaps tellingly – was by SMS. Farrugia did not divulge what was exchanged in their conversa- tion. He then informed his com- munications coordinator Etienne St John of his resignation, who did not know of his decision. Farrugia denied that his partner – Labour MP Marlene Farrugia – had put up the resignation letter on her Facebook wall before the Prime Minister was informed. "I showed her a mobile phone photo of my letter. And we decided to share it." Both Godfrey and Marlene Far- rugia have said they now have more than on reason to keep mili- tating within Labour, which they described as "the movement". But there's a parting shot here: "We see this happening under the leadership of Joseph Muscat… but we want to keep working inside the movement to ensure that the pre- electoral slogan of Malta Tagħna Lkoll really becomes a reality," they said of Muscat's meritocracy pledge. So why did Farrugia not accept the social solidarity portfolio he was earmarked for? "I have worked all my life to be at the service of patients, and that is my vocation." He did not divulge which other portfolio was offered to him. "The message I want to pass on to health workers and patients is that I want to thank them: I know they are at a crossroads in this field." Late yesterday evening, Farrugia made an appearance at Girgenti Palace, hours after Muscat had been summoning and despatching new ministers to their new respon- sibilities. At 5:24pm, the Prime Minister handed his BlackBerry to a staff member for a snapshot of him and Godfrey Farrugia, smiling, embraced, and then tweeted the photo: 'A chat with my good friend Godrey Farrugia, thanking him for his contribution. Sure he has still more to offer – JM.' The question was: what else did he have to offer? What did he not offer? Why had he resigned? Why had Konrad Mizzi been appointed health and energy minister? Why had Chris Fearne been appoint- ed parliamentary secretary for health? But there was no press confer- ence. Only tweets. Party reactions The Nationalist Party said Farru- gia's surprise resignation had ex- posed Joseph Muscat's "deceit." Referring to Farrugia and Franco Mercieca's departures from Cabi- net as "two resignations," the Op- position said yesterday's events "expose the ugly side of Joseph Muscat's leadership." Accusing Muscat of "using and disposing of people," the PN said that in recent months the prime minister hindered Farrugia from carrying out his job. Contrary to reports in the media which appeared yesterday, parlia- mentary secretary Franco Mer- cieca did not submit a resignation letter. The Gozitan MP confirmed that a few weeks ago he had informed the Prime Minister that he did not want to be "considered" in Mus- cat's plans for the new Cabinet. Mercieca made up his mind to re- turn to his ophthalmological prac- tice, three months ago. "A prime minister who conceals the resignation of a member of Cabinet from the people is a prime minister who put his own political interest above the people's inter- ests," the PN said. "These events flew in the face of Muscat's promise to have the best Cabinet in history." The Green Party chairperson Ar- nold Cassola described Farrugia as a "decent and humble person who was ready to listen and unlike oth- er ministers did not allow power to get to his head." Expressing his sympathy, the Alternattiva Demokratika candi- date for the forthcoming European elections said that the discontent shown by Marlene Farrugia in re- cent weeks "probably reflected Godfrey Farrugia's own discon- tent." Speaking to MaltaToday, Cas- sola added that Farrugia must have felt let down by the Prime Minis- ter's decision to remove him from health, "looking at it as a vote of no confidence." "Godfrey Farrugia is the victim of Labour's empty promises prior to the election, in which it prom- ised heaven on earth but promises to cut the waiting lists and have medicines delivered at home have not materialised yet." However, Cassola said that Farru- gia's biggest error was that of hav- ing an office at Mater Dei which according to the Green Party chair- person "raised expectations." PHOTOGRAPHY BY CHRIS MANGION Godfrey Farrugia arrives at Girgenti after marathon meetings between Joseph Muscat and his new ministers: neither side released a comment on the day's political events Godfrey Farrugia: 'I have worked all my life to be at the service of patients... that's my vocation'