As soon as it was announced that Jason Micallef was to be the new V-18 chairman, the dogs started baying and the knives were out.

The first reaction of many, was that he was unsuited for the job and had no experience in the field. Others were even less flattering. The next issue which cropped up was brought up was that the move, by parliamentary secretary Jose` Herrera to appoint him, was done behind Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s back to spite him. There is no love lost between Dr Muscat and Mr Micallef, no matter how hard the party has tried to portray otherwise.

But rumours will always arise, and many said that Dr Herrera appointed Mr Micallef to get back at Dr Muscat for not “making him Justice Minister”. The reasoning the conspiracy theorists came up with to back their argument was that when the new cabinet was being sworn in, Dr Herrera looked completely disinterested and failed to shake the Prime Minister’s hand.

They always say that there is a kernel of truth behind every rumour, and that there is no smoke without fire. But at the end of the day, Dr Herrera has publicly assured that he consulted with the Prime Minister before making the appointment. So, at the end of the day, it is all hearsay. We are sure, that at some point, the truth will come out, as it always does – just ask the Nationalist Party.

As we have said, the knives are out, but PN deputy leadership hopeful Claudette Buttigieg wrote in her contribution to our sister paper The Malta Independent on Sunday, why replace David Felice, the man who steered Valletta to gaining the status of European Capital of Culture in 2018 with a man who has no experience whatsoever in the field. As Ms Buttigieg rightly remarked: “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?”

Right at the start of this legislature, we defended the right for the government to appoint whoever it likes to sensitive posts. On the flipside, the government said it would retain the services of those that “did a good job” and were ready to work with it.

The Government will defend the move by saying that Felice will be retained “in some capacity”. But it all doesn’t add up. It smacks of one of two things. Either the theorists are right, and that Dr Herrera has tried to get back at Dr Muscat, or that it is simply jobs for the boys – something which this government accused its predecessor of doing blatantly.

At the end of the day, Mr Micallef, who does have good qualities, now has to prove himself. He has been given the post and must strive to do his utmost to live up to the high expectations which were set by Felice. We doubt that anyone would be spiteful enough to take personal issues out on a national culture platform. At least, we hope they don’t. This is a golden opportunity for Malta and its people and it should not be used to settle personal differences.