The decisions made by a government were a collective responsibility, even if one member or members of that government disagreed with them, Parliamentary Secretary Michael Farrugia told Parliament yesterday.

He was answering a question by Opposition MP Jason Azzopardi, who had asked if the government’s professed principle of meritocracy had been applied in the appointment of the new Gozo Channel chairman. If so, what particular merits did the new chairman have?

Dr Azzopardi was not happy with what Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had told him in reply to a previous PQ, that “they were the same merits that Dr Azzopardi had doubtlessly seen in taking similar decisions”.

He asked the Prime Minister to say if Dr Azzopardi had ever appointed any person who had been a candidate or an official of the PN.

He said yesterday that Dr Muscat had not been telling the truth when answering the old question. Dr Farrugia’s answers to his various supplementary questions had confirmed that Dr Azzopardi had never done so.

Government Whip Carmelo Abela asked if this should be taken to mean that Dr Azzopardi had not been in agreement with certain appointments but had remained silent.

Dr Farrugia said there had been various instances of appointments or consultancies going to prominent Nationalists under PN administrations. These had included Noel Buttigieg Scicluna as ambassador, Georg Sapiano as consultant, Helen D’Amato as Children’s Commissioner and Ċensu Galea as chairman of the Building Industry Consultative Council (BICC).

Dr Farrugia said no minister or parliamentary secretary in the Labour Cabinet had ever shied away from shouldering collective responsibility. He wondered if the same could be said of Nationalist ministers or parliamentary secretaries.