Justice Minister Owen Bonnici, who is now also responsible for PBS, said today he has so far not been approached by Home Affairs Ministry Chief of Staff Silvio Scerri for a job in public broadcasting. The Minister said he had also not approached Mr Scerri.
Speculation that Mr Scerri would move to PBS grew after Manuel Mallia was dismissed by the Prime Minister yesterday, after the publication of the findings of an inquiry on the Gzira shooting incident.
Speaking to the media today, Dr Bonnici said the government is open to working with anyone with the right qualities who wishes to contribute to the sector. He said, however, the Mr Scerri has not asked him for a job at PBS and he had not asked Mr Scerri.
When asked if PBS CEO Anton Attard would be replaced, Dr Bonnici said all members of the board had presented him with their letters of resignation - as is customary when a new minister is appointed - but all were refused.
The Malta Independent asked Dr Bonnici if he had a different vision of PBS. He replied that the national broadcasting station has made big improvements. The recent Junior Eurovision Song contest was one example of the good work done by PBS. "We now have to keep building on what has already been achieved. I also took a look at what we promised for public broadcasting in our electoral manifesto - we promised quality, impartiality and objectivity. That is my mission."
When asked about certain comments calling for a "clean sweep" of nationalists from PBS, Dr Bonnici said he is not one to dismiss people because of their political allegiances.
"You are speaking to a Minister who works with everyone. I will work with anyone as long as we all are working for a single aim - to take this country forward." Dr Bonnici said he measures people by how much they want to work and by how much they are willing to share their talents to improve the product. " I do not distinguish between a person and another by their political allegiances. This is what we promised when we said that Malta was for all."
The Justice Minister was speaking after the launch of the second part of a dictionary of legal terms written by former Judge Philip Sciberras. The Minister said the publication will not only be beneficial to members of the judiciary, lawyers and law students but also to the public in general. People are interested to know if they have a right or not, not in legal jargon. This publication will give them increased assurances about our legal system he said.
Judge Sciberras said the publication, which covers letters B and C, was time consuming and required great patience. He a number of other volumes, covering up to the letter K, have been sent to the editor and will be published in the coming months.
The former judge spoke about his love for languages and said he studied Russian, Albanian and Yiddish and is also studying Levantine Arabic. His life has always been guided by his love for the three L's: literature, language and the law. He concluded his speech by reading out a poem from a book he has had published recently, with poems covering a 50-year period.