It was a bizarre coincidence that the appointment of parliamentary assistants by Lawrence Gonzi coincided with the second anniversary of this administration – 24 months of hell, during which government had to jockey around with parliamentary sitting dates to make sure that it could muster the needed majority to see a number of important bills through the House.

I am almost sure that had the government secured a pairing arrangement with the Opposition side, or else had we given in to his lurid offer of an Opposition nominated Speaker which was solely intended to reduce our number of seats by one and thus offer government a slightly more comfortable majority, Lawrence Gonzi would have shown none of his mock generosity towards his ‘fellow’ back benchers.

In saying that this whole saga reminded me of The mouse that roared might be construed as an insult to one of my former favourite comedians Peter Sellers, but it was the title that instantly came to mind when I read through a long awaited DOI media release how politics of convenience ended up prevailing to make sure that this government can continue pushing ahead, hopefully with less reliance on 24 hr life support.

Speaking for myself I never dreamt that any of the PN MPs would jump ship, but this in its own way does not minimise or reduce the perception of instability that this government has created over the past two years.

This is a sentiment shared by many foreign diplomats who I have met socially and professionally during this legislature.

The saga reminded me of the Peter Sellers movie because as in the case of the imaginary Duchy of Grand Fenwick, Gonzi had to move, because two years on in the life of this legislature, he could not but help admit and show that he could not hide the fact that he felt the ground shifting beneath himself. Some argue that even President Obama experienced the same sensation but at least the US President has a vision and a foresight that one surely cannot attribute to Lawrence Gonzi.

If anything Gonzi reminds me of Herbert Hoover who was considered the most capable public figure in the country when he was elected, due to being educated, intelligent and with a wide knowledge of people – only to find out that when it came to deliverables he came a cropper!

The Gonzi plan might not be so crude or radical as the Grand Fenwick plan of the comedy in question, but then that is like consoling yourself that our Prime Minister is far better than Obama might be in comparison with GWB, Sarah Palin or Joseph Stalin!

It was clever of government to give the new appointees a slightly different title from that of parliamentary private secretaries – settling instead for the official title of a parliamentary assistant for the simple reason that while these local appointments have been made by the PM in the UK they are a different kettle of fish.

A PPS in the UK is a role given to an MP by a senior minister in government or even shadow minister to act as their contact for the House of Commons.

This role is junior to that of Parliamentary Under Secretary.

Although not paid other than their salary as an MP, PPSs in the UK help the government to track backbench opinion in Parliament. They are also subject to some restrictions as outlined in the Ministerial Code of the British government.

PPSs can sit on select committees but they must avoid ‘associating themselves with recommendations critical of, or embarrassing to the government’ and must not make statements, or ask questions on matters affecting their minister’s department.

While the Maltese government has tried to give the impression that they will have government inputs, in actual fact PPSs abroad are not members of the government per se, and all efforts are made to avoid these positions being referred to as such. They are instead considered more simply as normal Members, however their close confidence with ministers does impose obligations on every PPS.

Usually Ministers choose their own PPS, although it is not clear whether this was the case locally, although the final appointment is normally made by the PM himself. In fact in the UK the Ministers must seek the written approval for each candidate from the PM and it is traditional procedure to consult the Chief Whip. In Malta’s case it seems that these parliamentary assistants will have their work co-ordinated by the PN Whip who has already been given the ‘golden opportunity’ to sit on the front bench to fill up the seat vacated by former Minister Dalli.

In the UK when on official Departmental business, PPSs’ travel and subsistence allowances are paid out of government funds, as with formal members of the government. This makes the PPS the only type of unpaid advisor who receives reimbursement in the course of their duty.

Ironically ordinary Maltese MPs who do not form part of this arrangement – should according to the Estacode be treated to particular travel arrangements, which in practice have been denied to MPs from either side, so far for budgetary reasons. It will be interesting to find out if budgetary considerations will also come into play regarding these new parliamentary assistants.

As a last resort for ministers who must pull out of an event for whatever reason, a PPS may stand in for the minister at the event. This will only happen in exceptional circumstances and must be justified by the minister in charge of the department.

It will be interesting to find out what role they will play in the House in the absence of the Ministers concerned, although it has already been made clear that they will not stand in or be obliged to reply during question time.

I recently went over a Wikipedia article on the role of parliamentary private secretaries which showed how the use of PPSs has in the past been a source of comedy in the series Yes Minister.

Allow me to quote verbatim:

JAMES HACKER: Who else is in this department?

SIR HUMPHREY APPLEBY: Well briefly, Sir, I am the Permanent Under Secretary of State, known as the Permanent Secretary. Woolley here is your Principal Private Secretary, I too have a Principal Private Secretary and he is the Principal Private Secretary to the Permanent Secretary. Directly responsible to me are 10 Deputy Secretaries, 87 Under Secretaries and 219 Assistant Secretaries. Directly responsible to the Principal Private Secretary are plain Private Secretaries, and the PM will be appointing two Parliamentary Under Secretaries and you will be appointing your own Parliamentary Private Secretary.

JAMES HACKER: Do they all type?

SIR HUMPHREY APPLEBY: None of us can type. Mrs. McKay types. She is the secretary...

In the UK, PPSs are expected to keep a low profile in the House while according to the Cabinet Manual they have no executive responsibilities and no policy, financial, statutory, or operational authority.

According to the Financial Times they are considered to be the lowest ranks of government. According to the ft.com although all this might offer the prospect of future promotion, becoming a PPS is according to the influential business daily broadly thankless and unpaid.

When someone recently tried to track the whole list of PPSs in the House of Commons, no one seemed to have the list in the UK when such an attempt was made in August 2009.

They even had to commission someone to do the research because no one in government had a list; 10 Downing Street, Cabinet Office, or the Labour Party in government.

When someone tried to dismiss PPSs in the UK as mere bag carriers, the point was made that a PPS is a bit more than that – you are supposed to be the eyes and ears, reporting back to your boss all the gossip, what people are saying about your work in the bars and cafes of Westminster...

Without in anyway trying to cast doubts on any of the new parliamentary appointees who are all parliamentary colleagues of mine after all, it will be interesting to find out whether they themselves will be gossiping about the Ministers they will be serving, as well as what type of gossiping will be going on about those who will be actually assuming these new duties.

If anything we now have the luxury of not only having a couple of characters straight out of Yes Minister without the humour, working like control freaks in the Prime Minister’s private secretariat, but we may now, also have the pleasure of possibly indulging in some Yes Minister humour during our otherwise humdrum and run of the mill parliamentary life.

If anyone thinks that all this will enhance government efficiency… think again… it is nothing but a pure case of political expediency!

I am sure and confident that in his heart of hearts, Lawrence Gonzi will surely not deny it. His only true wish is to hopefully sleep more comfortably at night.

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