An expert in the Maltese language has resorted to court action over the appointment of Norma Saliba as the head of a new centre for the language, despite not having any qualifications in the language and following the creation of the post without any consultation.
Mark Amaira filed a judicial protest on Thursday against Culture Minister Owen Bonnici, the Centre for the Maltese Language, the National Council of the Maltese Language and the State Advocate.
The protest follows the appointment of Saliba as the new executive director of the new state-run agency just weeks after she had been edged out of the TVM newsroom.
The Centre for the Maltese Language will serve as the “administrative, organisational and operational organ of the National Council of the Maltese Language,” according to a legal notice published just before the announcement of the appointment.
According to legal notice 201/23, the Saliba-led centre will serve as the executive organ of the National Council of the Maltese Language and assist it in promoting the use of Maltese “through collaborations, publications and the utilisation of the internet and digital tools”.
Saliba was appointed to lead the centre by Bonnici, who said the new agency would “make a difference in safeguarding the Maltese language, especially within digital spheres”. A Culture Ministry press release that announced Saliba's appointment - as well as the creation of the new agency - noted that she had won a journalism award in 2015 for her good use of Maltese.
Saliba landed the job just weeks after she resigned as TVM head of news, three years into the job and following reports of clashes with the broadcaster’s executive chairman, Mark Sammut.
When she announced her resignation, Saliba said she had been targeted by a “character assassination campaign”, without elaborating.
In his judicial protest, signed by lawyers Jason Azzopardi and Kris Busietta, Amaira explained how despite being qualified in mathematics and IT, he also graduated in Maltese linguistics. He is also working on research to eventually pursue a PhD in the subject and has at least 15 years of experience in teaching Maltese.
Amaira said the government was going ahead with the appointment without due process and without basing it on merits, qualifications and experience. He said this could potentially damage his prospects and held the authorities responsible for damages he may face.
He described the decision as “irresponsible and insulting”, adding that the government was turning Maltese language graduates and academics into “beggars” rather than following the principle of meritocracy.
“By its actions and the way the law was drawn up without consultation, the government is claiming to have an absolute and sacrosanct right to choose a person not qualified in the Maltese language to lead a team of Maltese language experts and academics,” Amaira wrote in his protest.
He stressed that the council should have never permitted the government to steamroll over it.
The council’s chair, Olvin Vella, told Times of Malta following the appointment that he did not know of plans to create a new entity responsible for the council’s administration but welcomed the development as a “pleasant surprise”.
Amaira said Vella’s position as chairman of the National Council of the Maltese Language was no longer tenable, especially since his silence and that of many others were “embarrassing and humiliating” the Maltese language by dragging it into a partisan controversy.
He, therefore, gave the authorities one week to reverse Saliba’s “illegal” appointment and warned of further legal action in default.