Wenzu Mintoff has 'irreconcilable' conflict of interest

Malta Enterprise is standing by its position that its legal adviser Wenzu Mintoff has a conflict of interest due to his position as editor of KullĦadd, the Labour Party's Sunday newspaper.

In a statement in which it did not mention Dr Mintoff by name, it yesterday said it regretted the matter had been politicised when this was an issue of internal discipline and control in the best interest of the corporation and its clients.

"The position of a newspaper editor brings with it a legal responsibility over the entire content of a newspaper. Such legal liability cannot be entertained in parallel with the legal responsibilities incumbent on the employee's office. Whether implicit or perceived, the conflict of interest is unequivocal and irreconcilable," Malta Enterprise said.

The issue was first revealed by The Sunday Times last week, when it reported Malta Enterprise had asked Dr Mintoff to choose between his job or his post with the newspaper.

The issue was then raised at Labour's annual general conference, where deputy leader Toni Abela accused the agency of discrimination.

"Wenzu Mintoff was accused of having a conflict of interest by the same company that employed the Nationalist Party's international secretary," Dr Abela said.

Malta Enterprise yesterday said it never withheld Dr Mintoff's conduct of and participation in political radio programmes, his regular political contributions in the press or any other political office occupied by the employee.

This, it said, went a long way to refute any claims of political discrimination.

It also insisted there were absolutely no precedents within its organisation on such matters, despite what had been claimed.

"No employee in these two entities has occupied the post of editor for any media organisation. The individuals mentioned in sections of the media are contractors of Malta Enterprise and Malta Industrial Parks. To this effect, the two entities have on its books contractors from both sides of the political divide."