It was a baptism of fire for Robert Abela as he surprisingly took over the reins from Joseph Muscat a year ago. Christopher Scicluna analyses the highs and the lows of the new prime minister. It was a triumph few could have predicted. Robert Abela had only served as an MP since 2017 and had held no public office. In the party leadership contest, he was up against respected party veteran and popular Health Minister Chris Fearne. On January 11, Abela won the party contest and two days later took over from Joseph Muscat, who was riding high in popularity despite having sunk his government deep in the mire of bad governance.