Affordable Housing Minister Roderick Galdes has resigned, weeks after being embroiled in a scandal related to a penthouse he bought in Gozo.
In a statement on Facebook, Galdes on Saturday evening said he had handed in his resignation to the Prime Minister “a few hours ago”.
The Office of the Prime Minister, in a statement, said that the resignation had been accepted.
Galdes said he had been the target of “synchronised attacks to destroy my political career”. The attacks were “personal and were also directed at my family,” Galdes said.
He said that throughout his career he had always brought the interest of the party before anything else.
“I know I did nothing wrong and about this I am serene and tranquil, but I do not want these allegations to dampen the government’s work and that of the party,” he said.
In these circumstances he said he had to take the decision to resign from a role “I always carried out with a sense of duty and loyalty.”
He said he will work for all the truth to emerge and clear his name from allegations which were “intended to stop me from working for the good of the Maltese and Gozitan people.”
In recent months, Galdes has been at the centre of media attention amid growing scrutiny over his extensive property portfolio and connections with some of Malta’s largest developers.
Galdes owns properties in Luqa, Xagħra, Qormi, Siġġiewi, Middlesex, and Sicily. In 2021, he also purchased a duplex penthouse, complete with a garage and airspace, for just €140,000 from developers Joseph Portelli, Mark Agius, and Daniel Refalo.
He later entered into another agreement with the same developers, exchanging a furnished apartment in Xagħra for a plot of land in Għarb.
Galdes has also faced allegations of being overly close to contractors, claims made by former Labour MEP Marlene Mizzi. Mizzi, who previously led Malita Investments – a government-majority-owned company responsible for financing and developing social housing – said she was dismissed in May 2024 after opposing Galdes and resisting what she described as his interference in the company’s operations.
Galdes’ resignation exposes Abela’s weakness – PN
The resignation of Roderick Galdes from his ministerial post shows just how weak Robert Abela is, the Nationalist Party said in a first reaction. Despite everything that emerged about Galdes, Abela was incapable of removing him and forcing him to step aside.
It is now clear that Galdes had no option but to resign of his own accord following the various revelations regarding his links with contractors, “his unexplained wealth, and the advantageous deals he entered into”.
The PN questioned why there was such a delay before Galdes resigned, and what prompted this sudden decision after many weeks of insisting he had done nothing wrong, with the Prime Minister publicly defending him, only for him to announce his resignation this evening.
What has changed that led to his departure? Why, after all this time claiming he had no reason to step aside, has he now resigned?, the PN said.
PN Leader Alex Borg has been calling for Roderick Galdes’ resignation for weeks, and the Maltese people now have every right to know the full truth behind this resignation.
This is a “resignation that only serves to show how overwhelmed by internal turmoil Abela has become, having lost all control and proving incapable of forcing a senior minister facing such serious allegations to step down from his Cabinet,” the PN said.
Fourth Abela Minister forced to resign – Momentum
This is the fourth major resignation from the Abela government, Momentum said Saturday, referring to the previous resignations of Justyne Caruana, Clayton Bartolo and Rosianne Cutajar,
“The filth permeating Robert Abela’s cabinet is nauseating,” Momentum said.
“Malta looks forward to a ministerial cabinet freed from these leeches. We need a cabinet composed of politicians who put the welfare of the Maltese population as its foremost objective,” Momentum said.