Jason Micallef given an 'ultimatum'

Labour Party general secretary Jason Micallef has been given an ultimatum to strictly abide by leader Joseph Muscat's instructions or face the sack, The Sunday Times has learnt.

Relations between Mr Micallef and Dr Muscat have deteriorated in the last fortnight, as more powers are transferred to chief executive James Piscopo.

Mr Micallef, who was convincingly reconfirmed in his post last August, was involved in a major clash with Mr Piscopo at the party headquarters recently, as he felt increasingly sidelined by the new Labour leader, according to party sources.

Dr Muscat drastically re-dimensioned Mr Micallef's role shortly after he assumed the reins of a party reeling from a third successive electoral defeat. He personally handpicked Mr Piscopo, a former Air Malta employee, to take over responsibility of certain crucial areas, including finance and planning. Mr Piscopo was also a member of Dr Muscat's core campaign team during the leadership race.

His appointment to the post of CEO, which was created as part of a large-scale administrative reform promised by Dr Muscat, was largely perceived as a move aimed at downsizing the role of Mr Micallef, who would be relegated to a purely administrative role.

"Micallef feels he should still be in charge of certain areas, such as the financial and planning areas of the party, even though Muscat made it clear he should no longer be responsible for them. Piscopo has Muscat's blessing, but Micallef is reluctant to accept his instructions," sources said.

"Muscat firmly believes Micallef cannot continue acting like the party supremo. Muscat doesn't want to commit the mistakes of his predecessor and his managerial ways are different. He feels Micallef is not up to certain jobs, though he is good in others."

Sources said Mr Micallef was also annoyed at the fact that Dr Muscat was openly challenging his predecessor's legacy. The Labour leader was also being accused of keeping warm relations with former MP Lino Spiteri, a politician with whom Alfred Sant had fundamental differences.

Mr Micallef can only be removed from his post by the same delegates who appointed him, although party sources said it would only take a directive from the Labour leader to convince them to call an extraordinary conference and unseat him.

Not all was lost for the Labour general secretary, though, as in the last few days he has started "complying", the same sources said. Given this situation, Dr Muscat would keep him on board for "at least" another year.

Among the many changes being carried out at the Labour headquarters, Dr Muscat appointed former PRO Mark Farrugia as his personal link to the newsroom, temporarily suspended online portal Maltastar.com in view of an upgrade, and picked Kurt Farrugia as party spokesman.