Meritocracy, for the Labour Party, means that one has to be a Labourite who is part of the Joseph Muscat clique and/or someone who appeared on a billboard saying that he or she would be voting Labour for the first time, the Nationalist Party said in a statement.

The latest example, the PN said, was the appointment of Ronnie Pellegrini as a director on Malta Freeport Corporation.

What made Mr Pellegrini eligible for the job was that he was a former secretary at the General Workers Union, a person who was close to former Minister Lorry Sant and is a close friend of Jason Micallef, former PL secretary and now V18 chairman.

This happened on the same day that Mario Vella, a former PL president, was appointed to chair Malta Enterprise, the PN said.

Dr Muscat had spoken about meritocracy before the election but he threw it out the window soon after he became Prime Minister, the PN said.