First appointments are made at Castille

Mario Cutajar, former General Workers’ Union activist, and Keith Schembri, the businessman who masterminded the Labour Party’s electoral campaign, are two of the Government’s first appointments.

To ensure transparency, Keith Schembri will be renouncing his directorship roles in the businesses he holds

On his first day at the office, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat announced that Mr Cutajar, former GWU deputy general secretary, will be Cabinet secretary and the principal permanent secretary who heads the civil service.

However, he will serve in a designate role and for the time being Godwin Grima will retain his position as principal permanent secretary.

A former public relations officer of the fiery former Labour Minister Joe Debono Grech in the 1980s, Mr Cutajar had fallen out with GWU general secretary Tony Zarb and resigned from the union in 2002. In 2008 he took on the role of main political adviser to MEP Glenn Bedingfield.

Keith Schembri, owner of Kasco – a major business in the printing industry – and the brains behind the sleek Labour campaign, has been appointed chief of staff within the Office of the Prime Minister. The role is deemed to be the Prime Minister’s right-hand man.

“To ensure transparency, Mr Schembri will be renouncing his directorship roles in the businesses he holds,” according to a Government statement.

The Government said Mr Schem­bri’s business, leadership and creativity skills would bring “a new dimension to the government system” to ensure the Administration would continue understanding “the needs of people who create job opportunities”.

Kurt Farrugia, 31, who was Labour’s director of communications after starting out as a journalist in the Labour media, will move office from Ħamrun to Valletta to take on the position of head of communications.