Updated Saturday - Home Affairs Minister Manuel Mallia this morning denied that placing the most senior officers in the police force under temporary performance agreements undermined the Force, its independence, integrity and autonomy.
He said the measure was only being taken to ensure that the performance of the most senior officers of the police force were continuously assessed and that they continued to give the best of their abilities.
The measure was strongly criticised yesterday by the Malta Police Association, which said the move undermined police independence. It also said it was not consulted about it.
Acting Police Commissioner Ray Zammit said the move was aimed at maintaining standards and said the issue was still under discussion.
The Malta Police Force Association in a statement yesterday said the "Addendum to the document regulating the conditions of service for the police force" was signed behind its back.
The agreement was signed by chief permanent secretary Mario Cutajar and the permanent secretary in the Home Affairs Ministry Kevin Mahoney on Wednesday.
The MPA said it objected to the agreement, placing the highest positions, including commissioner, deputy and assistant commissioners under temporary performance agreements which could be renewed.
It said that through the agreement, the people occupying these posts would be under the effective control of the Executive as it would be in the Executive’s discretion whether to allow the people in these posts to continue to occupy them.
The MPA said the police force could not be compared to other entities in the civil service to which performance agreements applied because of the delicate nature of the job.
These senior officials had to be independent and not have their decisions hindered by the fact that they could be removed if they took unpopular decisions.
This undermined the foundation of the Force, its independence, integrity and autonomy, weakening it and the people’s confidence in it.
The agreement, the MPA said, was bringing about an unprecedented change.
It called for an urgent meeting of the Police Negotiation Board in line with the Police Act, to consider the issue which had been formally brought up.