In a mere two months of Labour government, we have become used to the manner of Labour appointments. First, there is a choice of person that makes us raise an eyebrow. Then, extracted only under pressure from the press and the Opposition, the explanation of special waivers and benefits: all defended breezily as “common sense”, while making any sensible person wince.

Even two months of bracing ourselves for the news of the next appointment, however, did not prepare us for the new chairman of the Valletta 2018 Foundation. David Felice, the man who, since 2009, has steered the efforts and vision that won for Valletta the status of European Capital of Culture in 2018, has been replaced – by Jason Micallef, Labour’s former Secretary-General.

I would really like to see if Joseph Muscat is brazen enough to defend this appointment as “common sense”.

Micallef isn’t without qualities. Back in the days when we both used the same TV studio for our respective shows, I knew him as a good TV presenter and producer. And he did a good job at the helm of One TV. But chairman of V18?

What will Micallef bring to the project that was previously missing? How will the loss of David Felice’s multifaceted expertise be compensated for, apart from depending on his selflessness in continuing to nurture the project in an advisory capacity? Yet, in that case, why replace him?

Defending this decision is going to need more that the curt brush-offs the Prime Minister has so far dealt the press. He has a lot of persuading to do with the many sectors that have an important stake in this project.

In one sense, that’s all of us. V18 will be an international showcase of Malta’s contemporary culture and heritage. Some sectors, however, have a special stake.

One of these is the sector of artists, actors, dancers, musicians and cultural entrepreneurs. I know the sector well, having grown up in it and been inspired and nourished by the important formative friendships it gave me. Many people have invested precious time, talent and money into events that were commercial and artistic successes. V18 represents an important opportunity for them, which they cannot afford to go wrong. Or even to be just half-successful.

With them, however, there is also the tourist industry. V18’s success would mark a turning point for the sector: putting Malta on the map for cultural tourists, enabling the industry to bridge the shoulder months more effectively, attract a higher-spending grade of tourist and distinguish “product Malta” from that offered by some of Malta’s rival destinations.

And let’s not forget education and the broader economy. A thriving cultural industry contributes to a general climate of open-mindedness, creativity and innovation that is good for quality of life, 21st-century citizenship and the knowledge economy.

Whatever its faults, the former Nationalist government understood this well. For all his rhetoric, Muscat doesn’t get it. Or maybe he just doesn’t care.

How else to interpret the fact that, having had Owen Bonnici shadow culture for five years, he appointed Jose Herrera as the junior minister for culture? Herrera’s enthusiasm for the sector can be gauged by the sulks he made no attempt to hide from public view when taking the oath of office and sitting at the first Cabinet meeting.

Indeed, he has himself told us that it was only after his first meeting with the V18 Foundation that he realised that V18 involved a rather greater number of localities than Valletta itself! This is something that any casual news follower with a passing interest in culture had long known.

One rumour has it that Micallef was not chosen by the Prime Minister but imposed on him by Herrera, who simply wanted to get back at Muscat and leaked the news to make it difficult for it to be reversed.

Whether this is true or not, the fact remains that this appointment confirms this government’s established pattern: public appointments are used to settle private debts.

All this is a far cry from meritocracy. It is a far cry from post-partisanship and common purpose. And, most offensive of all, it is a far cry from culture and its best interests. The unqualified got the job, the deserving man who did the hard work got booted out.

Dott. Buttigieg is a Nationalist member of Parliament