Jobs in political campaigning

Charles J. Buttigieg (December 16) referred to comments I made in a recent television appearance to imply that the 8,243 persons employed in the public sector on the eve of the 1987 elections were not given the sack by the new Nationalist administration because some of them were Nationalist supporters. This is far from the truth. Incidentally, 2,222 of these were employed in the last eight days before the May 1987 election.

Many of these workers were in fact employed in breach of the provisions of the Constitution and against the provisions of a circular that had been issued by the administrative secretary to the effect no one can be employed in the public sector without the approval of the Office of the Prime Minister, failing which ministers and heads of department would be held personally liable for the expense resulting from such employment.

The new Nationalist government elected in May 1987 had to face the problem posed by this nonsensical over-employment in the public sector in the first few days after taking office. I was of the opinion that the government should not recognise employment resulting from procedures made in breach of the Constitution, which was the case for the majority (but not all) of the 8,222.

Then Prime Minister, Eddie Fenech Adami, held that in effect this would be punishing people for a breach of the Constitution made by others. The issue of the political allegiance of the persons concerned was not part of the equation at any point.

The number of persons employed in the public sector for vote catching purposes during the 1987 election campaign was, and still is, a record.

Mr Buttigieg was also incorrect when he wrote that Alfred Sant "will remain on record as putting an end to that capricious method of winning a few votes". This honour belongs to Dr Fenech Adami who in the three elections (1992, 1996 and 2003) called when he was Prime Minister banned employment and froze all recruitment and promotion exercises in the public sector as soon as the election was called.

As to negative remarks thrown at Dr Sant by the PN, it is worth recalling that during the 1998 election campaign, Wenzu Mintoff (in his capacity of chairman of Alleanza Gustizzja Socjali - Alternattiva Demokratika) wrote that: "Dr Sant's commitment not to hand out jobs and promotions for the boys lasted only until his government became a caretaker".

Moreover, one current MLP deputy leader has now gone on record defending the handing out of jobs in the public sector made prior to the 1987 election and the other deputy leader has just promised a Labour administration that would govern in the same way the MLP governed in the 1970s and 1980s.