In 1968, Canadian sociologist Laurence Peter published a book called The Peter Principle. He argued that employees who are promoted are often hopelessly incompetent for their new role.
Promoting hard-working labourers without the required management skills to higher management leads to disaster for the company. An excellent assembly worker doesn’t necessarily make a good manager. Similarly, a good soldier doesn’t necessarily make a good chief of staff at Robert Abela’s OPM.
Prime Minister Abela appointed former AFM deputy commander Mark Mallia as his chief of staff, except he’s not called chief of staff anymore. Keith Schembri so utterly contaminated that title, it had to be changed. ‘Chief of staff’ is synonymous with rampant corruption, unbelievable abuse of power and staggering sleaze. So Abela’s chief of staff is now called head of secretariat. Whatever it’s called, it’s a seriously tough job. That’s why Abela appointed the most amazing man on the planet.
Mallia is simply brilliant, so brilliant that, in 2013, when Labour gained power, he was rapidly given three promotions in just three months. He was made a lieutenant colonel in September 2013. Fifteen days later, he became a colonel. Weeks later, he became deputy commander of the armed forces.
What makes Mallia so brilliant? He was aide-de-camp to Abela’s father, former president George Abela, and he is a friend of Joseph and Michelle Muscat.
All the rules were broken to fast-track Mallia to the second-highest rank in the army. Only one member of the selection board knew anything about the army. Two board members certainly knew nothing at all. One of them was ONE news reporter Ramona Attard. The other was Clint Cutajar, a customer care officer in the home affairs ministry’s secretariat.
Mallia’s fast-track promotions were deemed “outright illegal” by the ombudsman who condemned those promotions as benefitting “the favoured few”.
“The process,” the ombudsman concluded, “was irregular, improper and discriminatory…. the result of a tailor-made process to achieve a pre-ordained result.”
Mallia had to repay Labour somehow. In 2017, he hit the headlines. In the run-up to a hasty election called by his close friend, Muscat, Mallia masterminded industrial-scale promotions for his soldiers. Eight hundred promotions were awarded.
Mallia himself conducted promotion interviews right up to the eve of that 2017 election, busting his guts ensuring he won every last vote for Labour.
Mallia proved too good for the army. At least, Abela thought so. In 2022, the loyal soldier was appointed Identity Malta CEO. Mallia had no clue, no experience and no qualifications in the field. Overnight, his remuneration doubled. A FOI request lodged by The Shift revealed Mallia’s obscene package.
Not only was he awarded a €100,000 pay packet but his contract included a “special clause”. Mallia would remain on AFM’s books, entitling him to a full retirement pension after 25 years despite not serving those years in the army.
Mallia made himself comfortable at Identity Malta. And even more comfortable with taxpayers’ funds. He splurged thousands of euros on self-promotion.
In time, every position within government and its institutions will be filled by incompetents- Kevin Cassar
MaltaCEOs website published not one but three paid promotional articles about Mallia, with full-colour photos of the great man. When challenged about his breach of ethics, Mallia arrogantly refused to divulge how much of our money he’d spent on his own vanity.
Mallia was such a tremendous success at Identity Malta that he didn’t last his first term. Before his three years were up, he was given an even more lucrative, indeed the most lucrative CEO post. Mallia became Foundation for Medical Services CEO on February 2, 2024, replacing Chris Fearne’s Carmen Ciantar.
Prime Minister Abela had promised that Ciantar’s eye-watering €160,000 pay cheque wouldn’t be renewed. Fearne defied him and renewed her contract on even better conditions. When Fearne was removed from health minister, Ciantar was axed. Mallia got her coveted post.
Mallia had no idea about health or medical services. But that didn’t really matter. There was so much thought and planning behind Mallia’s appointment that, mere days later, he was removed.
On February 16, 2024, the former AFM deputy commander, Identity Malta CEO, FMS CEO was made Transport Malta CEO. This man’s talents know no bounds. He’s an exceptional all-rounder. From the military to medical services, from visas and passports to boats and buses, he knows it all – a veritable polymath.
Mallia took over from Jonathan Borg who hadn’t lasted a year at Transport Malta. He had replaced Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi, Mallia’s former army boss, who was unceremoniously dumped less than a year after taking over.
Mallia excelled at Transport Malta too. He broke the record of the shortest-lasting CEO. On June 26, 2024, barely four months after taking up his Transport Malta post, Prime Minister Abela called him to serve at the apex of Labour’s pyramid – the OPM.
Mallia cycled through five top posts within two years, four of those in just six months. They’re totally different requiring different skill sets, knowledge base and expertise. The most unbelievable thing isn’t that Labour’s given him those roles in such a short time, but that he accepted them.
Even the most accomplished person on the planet would pause and wonder whether he possessed the competence for such tough roles. But, as Bertrand Russell put it: “The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent full of doubt.”
Those at the peak of Mount Stupid think they know it all. That’s because they haven’t got a clue how much they don’t know. It takes years of hard work, study, application and perseverance to perform a top job with mastery. You don’t grasp that in a few months, certainly not in a few days.
Labour’s habit of parachuting people with little to no knowledge, qualifications or experience into the toughest top jobs is seriously damaging the country and its future. It’s no surprise that nothing works, that everything is pathetically amateurish or riddled with corruption.
Under Labour, Peter’s principle leads to Peter’s corollary – in time, every position within government and its institutions will be filled by incompetents. The end result is compounded mismanagement and total chaos. That’s exactly what we witness all around us.
Kevin Cassar is a professor of surgery.