Revolving-door recruitment into the public sector is one of the most effective lobbying tools. In lobbying terminology, revolving-door recruitment signifies the employment of a person directly from a lobby group by, say, the regulator of the said lobby. In simple language it means that the lobby takes charge of the regulator. Making hay while the sun shines.
It is common, nowadays, for public sector appointments to be subject to conditions that when the period of service comes to an end, the public servant is precluded from offering his services to those whom he previously regulated until a pre-determined cooling-off period comes to an end. The reverse should also clearly apply.
Unfortunately lobbying in Malta is not regulated in any way. It is still a free for all as Parliament has not been capable of deciding on the matter. Maybe it would be more accurate to state that the political parties represented in Parliament do not want to regulate lobbying.
The announcement earlier this week of the appointment of Johann Buttigieg as Executive Chairman of the Planning Authority is clearly a revolving-door recruitment: from the development lobby directly to the regulator. Buttigieg has been re-appointed to head the land use planning authority directly from his employment as an advisor to one of the leading developers on the island. In fact, his employer, Michael Stivala, currently leads the Malta Developers' Association, the developers' lobby in Malta.
Even if one were (just for a moment) to ignore all the past controversies in which Johann Buttigieg was involved, as a society, we are entitled to legitimately expect that the Executive Chairman of the Planning Authority is completely detached from the development lobby which he will be expected to regulate. To be so detached, Buttigieg would require a considerable cooling-off period. In other jurisdictions the length of this cooling-off period varies, from twelve months to around thirty months. This is what we ought to legitimately expect in a democratic society.
Even if one ignores the published chats between Johann Buttigieg and Yorgen Fenech on their willingness to be involved in business deals, during his previous appointment in the post of Executive Chairman of the Planning Authority, it is practically impossible to envisage how Mr Buttigieg can fulfill the duties of the post fairly to all sections of the local community, when he clearly forms an integral part of the development lobby.
Within this context it is difficult for me to understand the public congratulatory message to Mr Buttigieg issued by the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers, as part of the National Building Council. How can, may I ask, one be in such a celebratory mood in respect of a public appointment which runs diametrically opposed to basic ethical norms? Ethical norms, written or unwritten, are not only applicable to the political world. Even public sector appointments are subject to such basic norms. That the Chamber of Architects and Civil Engineers is apparently insensitive to such ethical matters is very worrying. This is worse than cosying up to the developers' lobby. Maybe, who knows, it is a direct consequence.
When é Manuel Barroso, former EU Commission President, was engaged by US Investment Bank as an advisor and non-executive Chairman of its international arm, he was heavily criticised within the EU structures. This notwithstanding that the appointment was well after the applicable cooling-off period, then at eighteen months, had already elapsed. The point being that we must be extra careful when deciding on appointments to sensitive posts.
The appointment of Johann Buttigieg is an affront to all efforts being made to establish a basic minimum ethical standard in public life. It is for this reason that I have earlier this week written to the Commissioner for Standards in Public Life in order to investigate this appointment.
Standards in public life matter. They matter not only when we talk about them, but more when we put them in practice through the way we act in all areas of public life. Not only in politics, but also in delivering public service.
Carmel Cacopardo is a former Chairperson of ADPD-The Green Party in Malta.