There is no doubt that some had expected much noisier and unruly carcades on victory, but that did not happen. I must admit that I, a noise hater, was not looking forward to the victory parades. I had resigned myself to the fact that after being so long in Opposition the PL supporters would go wild on winning.
But lo and behold, despite all the scaremongering from the usual people, there was certainly no violence or intimidation and the celebrations were less boisterous than those of the previous two Nationalist Party election victories. An important thing that many Labour people have learnt well is not to react to provocation.
Three things interested me just after the new government took office. The first was the new Cabinet, the second, that permanent secretaries were asked to submit their resignations and the third was the allegation by some ministers that communication lines had been severed and computers removed from ministries.
I would have loved to be a fly on the wall as all the manoeuvring to decide who would be in the new Cabinet was going on. There are quite a number of new faces, nearly half the Cabinet makeup.
It was obvious that Deputy Prime Minister Louis Grech, with his extensive experience as a member of the European Parliament, would get a prime role as Minister for European Affairs and as for the Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, I guess his successful running of our national airline for years gave him that edge.
Edward Scicluna has not had much time in the European Parliament, yet now, as Finance Minister, he has the crucial job of making sure we don’t follow in the wake of Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Cyprus. Having Economy, Investment, Small Business and Economic Growth in his portfolio, Chris Cardona also has a crucial role in keeping us afloat. As Minister for Energy and Water Conservation, Konrad Mizzi has one of the toughest jobs and one that all would be watching closely to see how one of Joseph Muscat’s main promises develops.
Manuel Mallia rose spectacularly quickly as a new politician to Home Affairs and National Security with Justice also in his portfolio. His vast experience in criminal law no doubt had some bearing in that decision. The only appointment I have some misgiving about is that of Godfrey Farrugia as Health Minister. This because he is a big defender of fireworks that generate noise and air pollution.
One of the Prime Minister’s first statements declared that his government would immediately work on its energy plan to give families lower bills and cleaner air. He must know that it is not only the energy plant that pollutes our air. The overloading of hazardous chemicals in the air in the summer festa season by fireworks is well documented. But then not having been a fly on that wall, I don’t know what made Joseph Muscat decide that Godfrey Farrugia would make a good Health Minister, besides the fact that he is a GP. We shall have to wait and see.
Now to the call for the permanent secretaries resignations. All who ever watched the BBC’s “Yes, Minister” and “Yes, Prime Minister”, on TV, would know about the tensions and manipulations that exist between a permanent secretary and his minister. Yes, I know it was fictional, but close to what really goes on. However, those tensions were usually about power struggles and infighting within the civil service and with the individual minister.
As supposedly, non-political appointments perm secs are not meant to get involved in the partisan fray. Hence, although an election can bring about a change in government, as its name suggests, permanent secretaries should stay put on the change. The idea is that although political masters can change, there should at least be some continuity in administration when a different political party takes over.
That is why they are meant to be non-partisan posts i.e. they should not be political appointments. However, they are appointed and can be sacked by the prime minister of the day, which brings objectivity into question. So what does a new prime minister do? Retain his predecessor’s choice or make his own choices? The new prime minister would have to decide on whose resignation to accept and which not, depending on their past performance.
Part of the Permanent Secretary’s role is to develop effective and sensitive communications with the public and ensure establishment of effective management information systems. That is why this whole computer disappearance mystery is interrelated. I had wondered why there had been no police report made. Well, it seems that the hierarchy at the PL, like the main newspapers, had decided to ignore the issue.
I believe it was inews that first carried the story on Friday 15, that all communication wires had been cut at the Economy, Investment and Small Businesses Ministry but, as I could not find the story elsewhere, did not know what to believe. I could not understand how the main media papers online had not picked up such a story.
A couple of days later, it appeared in l-Orrizont quoting Marie Louise Coleiro Preca, Minister for Family and Social Solidarity, and Leo Brincat, Minister for Sustainable Development, the Environment and Climate Change. They both claimed that computers had gone missing and security cameras had been damaged. “Usually the computer hard discs are cleaned, but now all the computers have vanished,” Leo Brincat told l-Orrizont.
The latter statement was also carried in The Times on 18 March, as well as that they found, “a damaged IT network and a disconnected CCTV system, no computers and no telephones”. However, it seems that the photo of a ‘messy’ office supplied with that story might have been misleading as to its exact location. The next day Clyde Puli, outgoing Parliamentary Secretary, told The Times that they left “no mess”.
He said the photo of an office showing wires on the floor, which was passed on to The Times by Roderick Galdes, did not show the office he used to occupy at Casa Leone in Santa Venera but that of a government agency on an upper floor. Which begs the question, why was that government agency office left in that state?
Mr Puli’s rebuttal made no mention of missing computers and damaged CCTV cameras, but he said “We left the offices on Friday evening in perfect condition and this was verified by high civil service officers in the same ministry according to protocol.” So has this verification by the civil service officers been publicised? Or would that be seen as getting involved in the partisan fray?
Although the public deserves to know what really happened to government property, which it after all pays for, it looks like the Office of the Prime Minister has decided to play it cool and has not made a big deal of the issue.
Published in The Malta Independent on Sunday 24/03/2013
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