Legal services head accused Malta Enterprise of political discrimination

Wenzu Mintoff, the head of legal services at Malta Enterprise, is claiming that the corporation is discriminating against him by asking him to choose between his job and his role as editor of the Labour Party's weekly.

Dr Mintoff, the editor of the weekly KullĦadd, filed a judicial protest claiming that Malta Enterprise - the government's business support corporation - was guilty of political discrimination in his regard.

He accused the enterprise of exercising double standards because other employees, with obvious affiliations to the Nationalist Party, were not told anything of the sort.

Malta Enterprise felt that Dr Mintoff had a conflict of interest due to his position as editor.

Dr Mintoff accused the enterprise of failing to draw a line between the government and the PN.

"It is clear that the intention of the enterprise is not to demand loyalty towards it but towards the 'party in government'," he argued.

In the protest, filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court, Dr Mintoff said he had served at the enterprise for the past 23 years, during which he had also been openly politically active, including as a Labour MP and chairman of Alternattiva Demokratika.

Throughout those years he always fulfilled his duties within the enterprise in an "honest and diligent manner" and did not allow his political involvement influence his job performance. This was proven through his performance appraisals that were always positive, he said.

On December 1 last year, he asked for a meeting with Malta Enterprise chairman Alan Camilleri to complain about the fact that ongoing restructuring would prejudice him and his colleagues.

During the meeting, Mr Camilleri recognised Dr Mintoff's sterling work but went on to produce a letter asking Dr Mintoff to choose between his role as editor and his job.

According to the letter, KullĦadd was working against the government's interests and Dr Mintoff's involvement constituted a conflict of interest.

In the protest, Dr Mintoff argued that the accusations made by Mr Camilleri were partisan in nature and in favour of the PN.

They were also in breach of his right to freedom of expression and politically discriminatory. He pointed out that Mr Camilleri himself had a PN affiliation having served in the past as communications coordinator to Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi. Mr Camilleri, he said, was also involved in the PN election campaign.

Besides, he said, there were enterprise employees who were actively involved in politics. Among them were lawyer John Bonello, the PN international secretary.

Dr Mintoff said Mr Camilleri also seemed to have forgotten that his employees included people who were candidates of the party in government.

Furthermore, Dr Mintoff said, Mr Camilleri was expecting him to be judged by a board that included Vince Farrugia, a PN candidate for the MEP elections, and former PN journalist Jesmond Bonello.

All this meant that, according to Malta Enterprise, someone could be politically active and work at the corporation only if one supported the party in government.

He argued that this was discriminatory and illegal and held the enterprise liable in damages.

Lawyer Toni Abela filed the protest.