[5] Taking over as prime minister from Eddie Fenech Adami, Lawrence Gonzi led the islands through the delicate first years of EU membership.

Following a razor-thin electoral victory in 2008, perceptions of arrogance in his cabinet, fomented by the Labour Party opposition and rebel backbenchers, dented his second term of office.

In international diplomacy, Gonzi was lauded for his role in the Libyan Revolution, breaking Malta's long relationship with the Gaddafi regime, and siding with the rebels.

Additionally, his humanitarian response to the migratory pressures enfolding around Malta led to the first voluntary European migrant burden sharing pact.

[16] These employment and industrial relations reforms were applied to the restructuring of the Malta shipyards, and the introduction of a stringent zero-tolerance policy for benefit fraud.

[14] George W. Bush, Secretary-General of the United Nations Kofi Annan, and Pope John Paul II, and many other foreign leaders,[18] congratulated Lawrence Gonzi on his new, important responsibilities at a critical time in Malta's history.

[19] Malta joined the European Union on 1 May 2004, and as prime minister, Gonzi attended the EU enlargement official ceremony which took place in Dublin, Ireland, where the Maltese flag was hoisted for the first time alongside those of the other member states.

Gonzi, in his responsibility for the finance portfolio, successfully managed the process to achieve the Maastricht convergence criteria, allowing Malta to join the Eurozone on 1 January 2008.

[21] Despite the cost to his party and personal popularity, Lawrence Gonzi continued to push through these reforms, trying to ensure Malta took the best advantage of EU funding available to new member states.

In his first message to the nation at the beginning of this legislature, Gonzi said that the work of his government should be based on sustainable development, putting the environment on par with education and the economy.

[22] He relinquished his post as Minister of Finance in favour of Tonio Fenech, but assumed responsibility for the Malta Environment and Planning Authority (MEPA), in particular its reform.

[23] Gonzi's government provided financial aid and support to local industries, allowing investment to continue unimpeded and keeping unemployment low in the country.

[25] Throughout his administration as prime minister, the restructuring of the Maltese economy was accelerated; Malta became an attractive location for foreign direct investment in financial services, information technology, maritime and aviation hubs and high value-added manufacturing clusters.

Gonzi provided humanitarian and medical assistance to Libya, granted asylum to two Libyan Air Force pilots who defected after being ordered to bomb protesters in Benghazi.

[28] Gonzi also offered valuable support to other European nations, negotiating the release of two Dutch pilots held captive by Gaddafi's forces.

[29] Lawrence Gonzi also made it clear, back in March 2011, that Gaddafi's exit from Libya was "inevitable", a message he reiterated in early April.

[30] These included the sabotage of plans to construct a museum beneath St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta by Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando,[31] who then went on to vote against the government in a motion calling for the resignation of Malta's permanent-representative to the EU, Richard Cachia Caruana.

[32] Jesmond Mugliett, a Nationalist MP, abstained on this motion citing concerns with Malta's reactivation of its Partnership for Peace collaboration with NATO - something he believed was pushed by Cachia Caruana.

[40] Within half an hour of the start of the vote counting, Gonzi conceded defeat[41] and held a press conference in which he expressed his desire to resign from the PN leadership.

[42] Gonzi shouldered "total and complete responsibility" for the electoral defeat,[43] later admitting that mistakes were made "in attitude, arrogance" by his second cabinet.

[23] His detractors criticised his lack of resolve in confronting the three dissident backbenchers, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, Franco Debono and Jesmond Mugliett.