On May 18, 2015, Minister George Vella appointed Jean Claude Galea Mallia as Honorary Consul to Ghana. Two years later, as revealed in a report by the Commissioner for Standards, Trade Malta CEO Anton Buttigieg was desperately asking: “Did anyone carry out any serious due diligence prior to his appointment?”
Buttigieg was in Ghana to prepare for a delegation led by President Marie-Louise Coleiro Preca. He met the consul, who introduced Aaron Galea as his business partner. Galea struck Buttigieg as “potentially a shady character” whose presence could embarrass Malta, according to correspondence annexed in the commissioner’s report.
A quick internet search revealed Galea was a wanted man. The Maltese police had issued arrest warrants against him for a €1 million fraud from an unlicensed investment scheme.
The consul had known Galea for years. In 2009, Galea had given the consul a job in his company.
The consul knew Galea was involved in a property deal “gone wrong” in Bulgaria. But he “didn’t give it much importance”. Later the consul opened his own company. He admitted that Galea “did assist me on a number of occasions”.
In 2017, the consul invited Galea to a business delegation during the President’s visit to Ghana before he found out about Galea’s “unpaid taxes”. But Galea remained active in the consul’s company, Galea Investments Ltd, until 2018. He even had an e-mail address with the company.
Galea Mallia was completely unfit for purpose. He never bothered to investigate Galea’s “issues”. It was his duty to alert the Maltese authorities to the presence of a fugitive and to facilitate his repatriation to face justice.
Minister Carmelo Abela participated in an e-mail trail which warned that the consul was linked to the fugitive. Yet, Abela nominated him for promotion to High Commissioner. And he failed to inform the parliamentary committee about the links, leading to a complaint against Abela for misleading parliament.
If that were not proof of his unfitness, Galea Mallia’s letter to Evarist Bartolo is. He presented pathetic excuses: “I was as naive as a 22-year-old coming out of university”, “I fell very ill with malaria, nearly died”, “Galea was the only Maltese person I knew in Ghana”, “I did not really comprehend the full picture of the situation”.
He concluded: “I do wish to apologise for all the inconvenience caused.” Inconvenience?
By failing to notify the police about Galea, Galea Mallia shielded the man from justice. Yet, he still keeps his post. So does Abela.
Sadly, Labour’s appointment of ambassadors was frequently based on one criterion – their proximity to Joseph Muscat. Muscat completely disregarded the national interest and deployed the most inept, unqualified and inexperienced personal friends.
Labour’s ambassadors should have been protecting Malta’s reputation but contributed to its destruction
Karl Izzo, waterpolo coach, was appointed ambassador to Montenegro. Izzo lacked any diplomatic experience. When challenged about his suitability he replied: “I was never an ambassador but I am Malta’s primary ambassador for sports.”
He insisted: “Montenegro is a country I know well. It’s an interesting country we can do a lot in.”
Like wind farms?
One man defended his appointment – Robert Abela. Abela’s defence was hilarious: since Montenegro’s sports minister had a waterpolo background like Izzo, the two would surely click.
Ray Azzopardi was made ambassador to Belgium. His official CV was pathetic. He served as public relations officer to Minister Vincent Moran and then became One Radio chief and head of Labour outdoor activities. King Philippe must have been dumbstruck at the presentation of Azzopardi’s credentials.
Michael Zammit Tabona, ambassador to Norway, caused a diplomatic spat when he called Angela Merkel a Nazi. The ministry issued an apology and belatedly withdrew the ambassador. Muscat celebrated his 44th birthday at Zammit Tabona’s restaurant, the Village Kitchen, accompanied by another good friend, Phyllis Muscat.
Phyllis Muscat was appointed CHOGM 2015 task force chairperson. She lacked any diplomatic experience whatsoever. And it showed. In a Times of Malta interview she couldn’t answer even basic questions which had to be repeated three or four times to her. Her assistant fed her the answers. At one point, the assistant exclaimed: “Come on, you know this, we prepared for it”, like a primary school teacher with her pupil.
Despite her embarrassing debacle, rumours surfaced that she would take over from Norman Hamilton, Labour TV talk show host, Eurosong chairman, and travel entrepreneur, as High Commissioner in London. Mercifully, it never happened.
Daniel Azzopardi was another flop. Hopelessly inexperienced, he was appointed Malta’s EU ambassador. The opposition voted against the folly of his appointment. Robert Abela, however, insisted “Azzopardi’s results proved them wrong”. Instead, the harm done by Azzopardi proved them right. A precipitous reshuffle of ambassadorial posts was required to salvage the situation.
The most embarrassing of Joseph Muscat’s appointments was Joseph Cuschieri, who sacrificed his parliamentary seat for the leader.
Cuschieri messed up before he even started. He travelled to Rome before his appointment was formalised, breaching diplomatic protocol. Appointing an incompetent amateur to Rome is nothing short of criminal.
Cuschieri had to be recalled and quickly replaced by Brigadier Carmel Vassallo.
Just weeks later, Cuschieri was reappointed as ambassador to Greece, a post he previously occupied, to the utter confusion of the Greeks who learned that the new nominee was actually the previous ambassador.
Labour has destroyed Malta’s reputation. Labour’s ambassadors should have been protecting Malta’s reputation but contributed to its destruction. They failed to mitigate Labour’s damage and reinforced the impression held by many Europeans – that Malta is a shady country in a sunny place, where corruption thrives like the prickly pear.
With deep roots and impossible to eradicate, it is tolerated and even appreciated, especially by those who enjoy its juicy fruits.
What they forget is that gorging on the prickly pear leads to faecal impaction – a painful, distressing condition caused by the accumulation of hard seeds in the rectum.
Malta has now reached that stage: surgical evacuation is essential before the bowel perforates and the patient expires.
Kevin Cassar, professor of surgery and former PN candidate