As Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister, Carmelo Abela is committed to spurring progress in the crucial fields of Sustainable Development, the Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, Public Broadcasting, Social Dialogue, Consultation, as well as Industrial and E​mployment Relations. He was previously entrusted with the Home Affairs & National Security and the Foreign Affairs & Trade Promotion portfolios.

A banker by profession, he entered politics in 1994 as a local councillor in Żejtun, before venturing into national politics. He has been elected to parliament in every general election since 1996, and inter alia served as Deputy Speaker, Government Whip, and Government Spokesperson before taking up Ministerial duties in 2014.

Initiatives spearheaded by Carmelo Abela as Minister include the saving of thousands of jobs and the safeguarding of employment conditions during the acute COVID-19 phase; the launch of the first Africa Strategy for Malta; the opening of the first Maltese diplomatic representations in Sub-Saharan Africa, South America, and Japan; the laying of the groundwork for Malta’s bid to take up a non-permanent seat on the UN Security Council for the year 2023-2024; and the launch of the Academy for Disciplinary Forces to provide a more holistic formation to the members of the Police Corps, the Armed Forces, the Civil Protection Department, and the Correctional Facilities