The head of the civil service, who became a “de facto minister”, should not enter the political fray, Opposition spokesman Jason Azzopardi said yesterday.
He was reacting to comments by Principal Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar who, on Thursday, addressed a press conference announcing the regeneration of Valletta’s indoor market
Although the public project is Planning Parliamentary Secretary Michael Falzon’s responsibility, it was Mr Cutajar who unveiled the project, something Dr Azzopardi feels was “out of place”.
Dr Azzopardi said he was also taken aback by the “partisan” nature of a statement issued by Mr Cutajar through the government’s official channels following the press conference.
In the statement, Mr Cutajar used phrases like “it appears the Opposition does not know that...” – language Dr Azzopardi feels should not have been used by a civil servant, who is meant to be apolitical. Dr Azzopardi described the statement as “a sad reflection on Mr Cutajar’s total incapacity to rise above partisan politics”.
The statement was ‘a sad reflection on Mr Cutajar’s total incapacity to rise above partisan politics’
A spokeswoman for Mr Cutajar said he had addressed the press conference because he was the chairman of a working group dealing with the regeneration projects in Valletta.
The statement issued later, she added, was merely intended to clarify a technical point. Dr Azzopardi was not the only person to take Mr Cutajar to task over his comments.
Alfred Fiorini Lowell, a former head of the Public Service Commission who had once also served as a permanent secretary, said he did not feel it was Mr Cutajar’s role to engage in exchanges of a political nature.
“If you were to ask me, I would say no. He should leave these things to the politicians. In my time, it was definitely not normal for a civil servant to take on a politician in an exchange of this nature. I would not even think of doing it,” he said.
Others, however, felt Mr Cutajar’s presence at the press conference had not necessarily been out of place.
George Vital Zammit, head of the Department of Public Policy at the University of Malta, remarked that it was not unheard of for a top civil servant to address a press conference and provide technical information.
As stated in the Public Administration Act, the Principal Permanent Secretary took instructions from the Prime Minister and delegated as he deemed fit, he said.
With regard to Mr Cutajar’s comments, Dr Zammit said it was not the first time that, in an attempt to promote policies, civil servants inadvertently or intentionally failed to separate politics from public service.