Aaron Farrugia netted a €33,000 payout after getting sacked from cabinet during last month’s reshuffle.
Farrugia, a former transport minister, qualified for a €33,385.89 “terminal benefit”, according to details obtained by Times of Malta via a freedom of information request.
The benefits are paid to all cabinet members who either fail to get re-elected, resign, get sacked or are not re-nominated to a cabinet post after an election.
Farrugia was the only casualty of Robert Abela’s January reshuffle, prompting political speculation about his performance, as well as his relationship with the prime minister.
Apart from the severance pay, Farrugia’s unceremonious sacking is set to be further sweetened as the backbench MP is reportedly being lined up as Malta’s permanent representative to the International Maritime Organisation.
The Labour MP joins a growing list of other cabinet members who have qualified for generous severance packages despite either being fired or forced to resign.
Rosianne Cutajar, who is making overtures to the Labour ranks, was paid €27,000 after being forced out of government in 2021 due to her close ties with murder suspect Yorgen Fenech.
Justyne Caruana, a former Gozo minister, netted a €28,000 payout after Abela ditched her from cabinet over her husband Silvio Valletta’s links to Fenech.
Times of Malta had revealed how Valletta, a former senior police officer, holidayed with Fenech while he was being investigated for complicity in journalist Daphne Carauana Galizia’s assassination.
Former prime minister Joseph Muscat was given a €120,000 golden handshake, despite resigning following weeks of public protests sparked by Fenech’s arrest and allegations his office helped protect key figures allegedly linked with Caruana Galizia’s murder.
Muscat has defended his severance package, insisting he got no more than he was entitled to.
In 2022, the Green Party demanded an auditor general investigation into the lack of transparency behind these golden handshakes.
Abela had defended the payouts, saying they are based on a scheme first introduced by a PN government.
Despite receiving these generous payouts, calls for the government to regulate the work politicians can do after leaving the government have been ignored.