Gavin Gulia is obliged by law to submit his nomination for scrutiny by the House Committee on Public Appointments to be re-appointed chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority, the Opposition said on Thursday.

The PN therefore expected the Tourism Minister not to reappoint him behind parliament's back in breach of the law, it said.

Gulia resigned from parliament on Wednesday afternoon, minutes after being sworn in after winning a casual election.

He said the prime minister had asked him to stay on as chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority in view of the challenges posed by the COVID-19 situation. 

A ministry spokesperson said Gulia would be reappointed to the MTA post.  
In its statement, the PN said that the law stated that no one could be appointed member of chairman of the authority if he or she was an MP.

So, on taking his oath as member of the House, Gulia had definitively terminated his post, which he had resigned prior to his appointment.

In another statement, civil society NGO Repubblika asked if the time had come for Prime Minister Robert Abela to be appointed emperor and choose MPs himself instead of the people.

It condemned Abela's "arrogant and cynical manoeuvres" to get his own people in Parliament saying that in one year, he would have taken into the House three people who had not gained one single vote from the people in the last general election.

Even worse, it seemed that Abela did this to push out a person who had been democratically chosen as an MP.

It called on Abela to stop playing with democracy and said this episode was another argument in favour of a Parliamentary reform.