Joseph Muscat, as leader of the opposition, had threatened to cause serious damage to former television presenter Norman Vella if he felt that the Labour Party was being attacked, Mr Vella claimed yesterday.
Mr Vella made the claim in an application to the Employment Commission alleging political discrimination in the way he was moved from his job at Public Broadcasting Service back to the public service.
Mr Vella used to present a talk show called TVHemm.
His application was filed against Dr Muscat and the Principal Permanent Secretary.
The threat, he claimed, was made during a meeting in the presence of Peppi Azzopardi, the presenter of Xarabank, Malta’s most watched talk show, and members of the Labour Party.
He had worked very hard, training as a journalist and getting a university degree
According to Mr Vella, Dr Muscat told them: “For every attack we feel that is directed at the Labour Party, I will retaliate with twice as much force, with all my might, below the belt, where it hurts.”
He also alleged that a senior official of the ministry responsible for PBS had told people that he did not want to see him (Mr Vella) continue his broadcasting career.
Mr Vella said that despite filing a judicial protest on July 17 asking for the reason he had been moved from PBS back to the civil service, he had received no reply.
He said that he had been deployed to PBS in August 2012 “on grounds of public policy”.
During a period of unpaid leave he worked as production manager for programmes which also included Xarabank and Bijografiji.
Mr Vella argued that none of the legal parameters were followed in his removal from PBS, which had effectively put an end to his career for which he had worked very hard, training as a journalist and getting a university degree. He said that before the general election he was also the victim of personal political attacks by the Labour Party’s newspapers.
In the weeks before his redeployment, his personal file had disappeared from PBS and later turned up at the Police Department, before he started to work at the department again. The file had not been sent by PBS but by the Ministry of Home Affairs.
Mr Vella asked the Commission to declare that he was a victim of political discrimination and to provide the required remedies.
Lawyer Andrew Borg Cardona signed the application.