Academic and former Labour secretary general Dominic Fenech has hit out at the secret appointment of former Tourism Minister Konrad Mizzi as a Malta Tourism Authority consultant just weeks after he resigned his cabinet post. 

Dr Mizzi was given a €80,000 consultancy contract which was approved by MTA CEO Johann Buttigieg. 

Mr Buttigieg himself was only appointed by Dr Mizzi a few weeks before the minister’s resignation in November. 

Writing on Facebook, Prof. Fenech said it was wrong to assume that Labourites tolerated such deeds. 

In further comments on his same post, Prof. Fenech observed that Dr Mizzi’s appointment came about at a time when Labour was meant to be repairing the damage already done. 

News about the contract, first broken by Times of Malta, sparked calls for the first civil society protest since Robert Abela’s appointment as prime minister. 

The government said early on Tuesday it was withdrawing a motion for Dr Mizzi as head of the Maltese delegation of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, amid widespread anger.

It also said it had requested legal advice on the validity of the MTA consultancy contract.