Svetlana Muscat, a presenter on Labour’s TV station, won the ‘Best upcoming talent award’ for a programme called Bikini. Now she’s been suspended from her role as director of strategy at Corradino Correctional Facility.
She’s being investigated for arranging for Yorgen Fenech, a man charged with masterminding the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia, to meet as yet unidentified persons in her office in prison. It’s unclear whether this was a one-off or a regular occurrence.
Prisoners cannot meet random people while in jail. Any visits to prisoners are closely monitored with CCTV cameras and can only occur in approved areas. Special written permission is required for anybody to enter offices of prison administration officials. However, Muscat, the ONE presenter and Labour Party marathon compère, allegedly allowed Fenech to meet “businesspeople” in her own office.
Prison officials were so disgusted that they flagged it up. Muscat was subsequently interrogated for several hours by Assistant Police Commissioner Keith Arnaud.
What on earth was she thinking? Which bright spark appointed a ONE presenter as director of strategy at the national prison? What’s her link with Fenech?
For three years, Muscat was minister Michael Farrugia’s communications coordinator. She was first appointed assistant communications coordinator in Farrugia’s private secretariat while in a relationship with Iosif Galea – the man arrested by Italian police while on holiday with disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat. A European arrest warrant had been conveniently ignored by Malta’s police for months. Galea’s father was Michael Farrugia’s chief of staff. Of course, Muscat wasn’t appointed Farrugia’s communications coordinator because of who she knew. It was for her competence.
Muscat’s role while at Farrugia’s ministry, as she admitted in an endorsement video shot before the 2022 election, was “to take care of his calendar”. What cropped up on that very calendar in 2014 was a secret meeting between Farrugia and Fenech.
Farrugia attempted to cover up that meeting but was found to have breached ethics by lying that he never met Fenech in Castille.
Minutes after that meeting, Muscat’s boss ordered the high-rise policy to be changed to include Mrieħel, where Fenech subsequently developed his Quad towers. Farrugia was investigated by the standards commissioner. The minister claimed he never discussed the Quad towers with Fenech. The commissioner took his word for it. He never asked for any minutes of that meeting. He never called Muscat to testify. And she never did.
Since then, Muscat has been kept on Labour’s gravy train. Once Farrugia was dumped, she was given one of Labour’s ‘cushy’ jobs – a post at one of the most sensitive entities – Corradino Correctional Facility.
The ONE presenter had no relevant qualifications and even less experience.
She was previously a sales and retail manager, a secretary and, of course, a “producer and presenter” at ONE Productions Ltd. Her only qualification was a diploma in management from the University of Malta. Safely installed in her full-time cushy job, Muscat pursued a full-time course in criminology at the University of Malta while keeping her ONE commitments.
Labour’s appointees don’t work for the country. They work for the party and its leader- Kevin Cassar
She was swiftly promoted to director of strategy and was touted for the long-vacant post of chief operations officer at the correctional facility, before she was caught setting up meetings for Fenech in her office.
Labour’s Mark Camilleri claimed prison inmates were regularly forced to wash her car.
Muscat gave an interview to the Criminology Students’ Association in 2020 when she was already working at Corradino and in her third year of criminology. “I work at the prisons. There was a post and I applied for it ‒ my dream job,” she commented. “I am a firm believer in giving a second chance in life. These people are human. I will do my best to give them a lawful life,” she added.
“For this work, did you need a master’s or some degree – I know you are in your third year, but did you need something else before,” she was asked by the ingenuous Sarah, a first-year student in the same course.
“Yes, yes, the requirements were specific,” Muscat blurted out, “one was that you needed TV experience and, luckily, I had that.” Luckily? “There were other academic requirements, I had those too,” she quickly added without specifying what these were. She had none.
“I did this course not because I needed it to get in (the job) but I did it for myself, for my own interest, because it could help me do my job better,” she commented. Of course she didn’t need that course. She was a ONE presenter. She already had the job, and, instead of focusing on it, she enlisted in a full-time university programme while also working with ONE.
Muscat had all the attributes required for that cushy director of strategy post. She started off with Qawsalla team under the tutorship of Labour compère and Malta’s former ambassador to Belgium, Ray Azzopardi.
She was chosen to start presenting on ONE by former news reader and Labour CEO, Gino Cauchi, who sent a draft “consultancy” agreement to Fenech, ostensibly on behalf of a company called BED Ltd. Then, she became PRO to Farrugia, who lied about his secret meeting with Fenech, for whom she allegedly arranged a private meeting in prison.
It’s now over three weeks since her suspension and police interrogation. She still hasn’t been charged – and probably won’t.
This is Labour’s legacy – a country that staggers from one crisis to the next scandal.
Instead of appointing qualified people of experience to key positions, Labour appoints its incompetent lackeys on the basis of loyalty, not merit, and definitely not integrity.
Labour’s appointees don’t work for the country. They work for the party and its leader.
Labour purges those suspected of having an ounce of integrity that might compromise their ability to collude with Labour’s bad or outright illegal policies. Labour doesn’t want technically competent individuals of integrity. Those won’t applaud and congratulate the minister when he takes foolish, dangerous or even criminal decisions. They’ll stand up to him. They’ll stop him.
That’s not who Labour wants at the helm of our institutions. It wants Svetlanas who think Farrugia is “humble, funny and well loved by all”, especially by Fenech.
Kevin Cassar is a professor of surgery.