Updated at 9.03pm with government reply to PN statement below -
The Office of the Prime Minister hurriedly appointed the boards of directors of two important regulators only a day after Times of Malta reported that the Malta Gaming Authority and the Malta Communications Authority had been left headless for several months.
A notice in The Malta Government Gazette on Tuesday announced that the Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services, Digital Economy and Innovation, Silvio Schembri, had made a retroactive appointment of both boards “with effect from October 1, 2019”.
The chairpersons of the two entities – fashion retailer Marlene Seychell at the gaming regulator and veteran lawyer Edward Woods at the communications authority – were not reappointed.
Instead, the two offices, vacant for several months, have been filled temporarily by the respective CEOs of the two organisations, who were installed as acting chairmen: Heathcliff Farrugia at the MGA and Jesmond Bugeja at the MCA.
Neither of the appointments has so far been referred to the parliamentary committee that normally approves nominations for such entities.
At the gaming authority, Mr Schembri has re-appointed the governors who were on the previous board, with the exception of former chairwoman Ms Seychell, who occupied the post for only a year.
At the communications regulator, CEO Mr Bugeja is a former employee of Identity Malta and was appointed directly by Mr Schembri without any call for applications being made.
As for the rest of the MCA board, the parliamentary secretary at the OPM has appointed Graziella Farrugia, Isabelle Vella, Kevin Abela and permanent secretary Mark Musù as new members, while retaining Mario Fava, a Labour councillor, and Alexandra Mizzi, daughter of a former Labour MEP.
An OPM source said decisions at these organisations were being made by the CEOs through the direct “suggestions” of the OPM and without any checks and balances.
Mr Farrugia refused to confirm that he was involved in heated arguments with members of the MGA board, including the chairwoman. Neither did he comment on reports that he had offered his resignation during the ensuing feud.
Meanwhile, reports of clashes between the parliamentary secretary and the outgoing MCA chairman have reportedly been ignored by Mr Schembri.
Times of Malta has reported that at least four government agencies falling under the political remit of the OPM and Mr Schembri were left without a board for months and in at least one instance for more than two years.
Another board with empty seats, in this case since June 2017, is that of the Malta Council for Science and Technology.
MCST, which has a multi-million euro budget, is being managed by the executive chairman, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, a former Nationalist MP who turned Labour. He has no board of directors to respond to.
A fourth government entity that had been without a board was Finance Malta but sources said it was recently reconstituted.
PN: Government breaking the law it moved
The Nationalist Party in a statement said that in terms of a 2018 law, the chairmen of the Communications Authority and the Gaming Authority were to be appointed after approval by the Parliamentary Appointments Committee.
Yet no reference to the committee had been made.
The government, it said, had acted in an illegal and arrogant manner, breaking the law it itself moved.
The PN said that independently of the merits or otherwise of the two individuals, it would vote therefore against their appointment.
Government: PN should check its facts
In a reply, the government said the appointees were the CEOs of the two agencies and as explained in the notice, these were temporary appointments.
Temporary appointments do not need prior approval of the parliamentary committee. The PN was urged to check its facts.