The government this morning denied that Transport Malta executive chairman James Piscopo (left) will be replacing Keith Schembri (right) as chief of staff at the Prime Minister’s office, as reported by Il-Mument.

The Nationalist Party newspaper this morning reported that Mr Piscopo, who was previously chief executive officer of the Labour Party, would take over from Mr Schembri. The newspaper said that Mr Piscopo is refusing the move.

In a statement, the government said that the report is “fake news” from start to finish. There is no vacancy for the post of chief of staff, the government said.

The government statement did not deny other parts of the report which state that Mr Schembri has not been reporting to work because of health issues. Mr Schembri did not attend a Cabinet meeting which was held at the Mosta local council last Tuesday.