Updated at 3.10 pm with PN press conference.
The CEO of the Manoel Theatre, Massimo Zammit, has been suspended on half pay, with allegations made against him also referred to the police.
The Culture Ministry made the announcement on Wednesday morning.
Edward Zammit, CEO of Spazju Kreattiv, has been appointed acting CEO in his stead, while also retaining his role at Spazju Kreattiv.
The decision to suspend Massimo Zammit was taken by the Manoel Theatre's management board, on the basis of a report by an external board which investigated allegations about him, the ministry said. It did not say what the allegations were.
Those allegations, as well as others, have been referred to the police by Culture Minister Owen Bonnici.
A disciplinary board will be set up to consider Zammit's case.
This is the third major suspension within Malta's cultural sector in a matter of weeks. An official at the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra was suspended two weeks ago after he was charged - and found guilty of - sexual harassment.
Last weekend, MPO CEO Sigmund Mifsud was suspended after prosecutors pressed charges against him for attempted tampering of evidence in relation to that sexual harassment scandal.
Mifsud allegedly instructed employees to keep quiet about the scandal and also tried to talk the victim into changing her version of events, before the matter reached the police. He denies the claims.
A court heard that the victim had reported the harassment internally but had been ignored. She eventually quit that job.
The issue has prompted the PN to call for the culture minister to resign. Bonnici has pushed back against those calls, saying he did nothing wrong.
Case raises questions
Addressing a press conference on Wednesday afternoon, Nationalist MP Julie Zahra said the Zammit case raised several questions about the way the arts sector is being run.
Zahra, who is the PN's spokesperson on culture, asked why the government had not informed the public of the nature of the accusations against Zammit.
Why had he not been suspended as soon as an independent body had been set up to look into allegations against him?
She said Culture Minister Owen Bonnici had referred the Zammit matter to the police just as he faced a political storm over his handling of sexual harassment claims at the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.
She asked, why Bonnici had gone to the police toda and why had he not immediately gone to the police on the first case linked to the national orchestra.
“We will likely never get answers from Owen Bonnici to these questions,” she said.
PN MP Graziella Attard Previ said it was clear Bonnici’s position as minister was no longer tenable.
She read out a quote from a speech given by Bonnici in February in which he said women need to be protected from psychological, gender-based, physical and sexual abuse.
Bonnici, she said, had time for platitudes, but did not seem to back this up with the necessary action when it is really needed.