V-18 chairman Jason Micallef has taken umbrage at the decision to shift the Eurosong festival to November.

Mr Micallef, who is also chairman of the Labour Party’s One TV, took his rant onto Facebook, claiming the move was a unilateral decision taken by the Public Broadcasting Services chief executive. Mr Micallef has made no secret of the fact that he wants Anton Attard to go and it is rumoured he would like the job himself.

This latest outburst by Mr Micallef on social media gives rise to a number of issues of concern.

Firstly, the V-18 chief enigmatically said that if he got hold of the facts, the “November festival is vitiated and null”. This is a serious allegation and surely not something to be raised on social media but addressed directly to the authorities concerned, especially when the allegation comes from a holder of a public post speaking disparagingly about the holder of another public post. The message being put across is that the public sector is fragmented, saddled by infighting and lacks cohesion and direction.

Culture Minister Owen Bonnici has distanced himself from the claim made by Mr Micallef, saying he was speaking in his personal capacity and not reflecting the government’s views.

That explanation was not good enough because the V-18 chief holds a senior public post, in addition to his senior Labour Party post. When appointed, a spokesman for the Office of the Prime Minister had said that there was no conflict of interest and that Mr Micallef would have two distinct roles.

But when Mr Micallef speaks in this way on social media, it is impossible to establish which hat he is wearing.

To wriggle out of the situation, the Culture Minister added a third hat for Mr Micallef: a “personal” one.

The incident is not new. The Prime Minister’s special envoy to the World Tourism Organisation, Joe Grima, drew the condemnation of the NGO Aditus after he described the organisation as “cultural rapists”. Here as well, the Office of the Prime Minister distanced itself from Mr Grima’s comments.

Malta Tourism Authority chairman Gavin Gulia had also stepped out of line when, again on Facebook, he criticised rock legend Bryan May saying he had come to Malta to sing and not to appeal against hunting.

It is clear that the use of social media by government officials requires proper guidelines. It is useless for the government to distance itself from them and say they are speaking in their personal capacity; they are not.

They speak for the government that appointed them, whether they speak in their private or public life.

The Prime Minister has lamented the lack of cooperation between different government entities and principal permanent secretary Mario Cutajar gave a rather critical overview of the public service saying it had a “crisis in leadership”.

Comments like those made by Mr Micallef only accentuate this sense of a fragmented government, giving the impression that the whole of the public sector is rudderless.

There are many benefits accruing from social media. However, public officers have to know how to use them, know their limits and never forget that, so long as they hold a public office, everything they do or say is a matter of public interest and reflects upon the government that has appointed them.

They are not expected to criticise one another publicly but to pull at the same rope. If they fail to do this, they should resign or be sacked.