Prime Minister Joseph Muscat and Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi should shoulder responsibility for the way the minister’s wife was given an appointment at Malta Enterprise without a public call, PN Secretary General Chris Said said this afternoon.
Speaking at a press conference in front of the Malta Enterprise building in Guardamangia, Dr Said said that the Prime Minister and Minister Mizzi have a lot of questions to answer, and should inform the public about Ms Mizzi Liang’s contract as ME’s business promotion envoy to Asia.
PN Deputy Leader Beppe Fenech Adami, who also addressed the press, said that the Prime Minister should say what salary and benefits Ms Mizzi Liang was given. “Did Konrad Mizzi inform the Prime Minister and his cabinet colleagues about his wife’s appointment? Did the Minister seek the Prime Minister’s permission? What qualifications does she have? What is she authorized to do? And does she, or any of her relatives or friends have business connections in Asia?”
Dr Fenech Adami said that, until a few days ago, it was thought that the PL government had hit the bottom, but this latest development showed that the government was sinking even further. “The government has reached the lowest levels of nepotism.”
Labeling Ms Mizzi Liang’s employment with Malta Enterprise as “another appointment carried out behind everyone’s back,” Dr Fenech Adami said that this was yet another example that the PL was breaking the promises it had made before the election. “They had promised to be transparent, accountable and meritocratic, but this is what we get,” he said.
The PN deputy leader said that this government is discriminating. “Had a call for applications been issued I’m sure that many would have applied,” he argued.
Secretary General Said said that, since the post Ms Mizzi Liang was chosen for was in a public entity, a call for applications should have been issued.
Asked if the PN was calling for Minister Mizzi’s resignation, Dr Said said that the Minister, and the Prime Minister, should shoulder responsibility for their actions. “What would have happened had things been the other way round?” he asked.
When asked if the PN would have acted the same way had Ms Mizzi Liang been recruited following a public call, Dr Said said that one cannot expect ministers’ relatives to be barred from applying, but in this case there was no such call, and this government was going to keep everything a secret, had in not been revealed by a newspaper.
In reply, the Labour Party said that the PN is in panic mode. It cannot attack Labiur's plans to reduce the energy bills and instead was going personal by attacking the mi9nister's wife.
The PN had used the services of Mrs Mizzi in the past, a PL statement said, but it did not know that she was Dr Mizzi's wife.