The Armed Forces of Malta has issued a call for promotions in its highest ranks despite an ongoing court case following a similar exercise in 2013.
The latest call to promote a number of majors to the rank of lieutenant colonel was described by senior army officers as “a statement of arrogance”. They said it was not prudent for the AFM to undertake this exercise before the pending complaints were sorted.
In 2013, a number of officers felt aggrieved by a promotion exercise from major to lieutenant colonel and from lieutenant colonel to colonel and took their case to the Ombudsman. However, the Home Affairs Ministry refused to hand over the relevant documentation to the Ombudsman to investigate their complaints. Ombudsman Joseph Said Pullicino successfully filed a court case on the matter. The government is appealing the decision.
This is an exercise to control the army. Unless you sell your soul you have no chance of advancing
“This is obviously being done because the Ombudsman’s term expires in a few weeks and the appeal is unlikely to be concluded before then. One would have to see whether the successor would be willing to fight the case with the same vigour,” a former senior army officer said, insisting on anonymity.
For him, the latest round of promotions is nothing more than an attempt to fill in the vacancies irrespective of the court decision. The number of vacancies is not specified in the call for applications.
“Even in a scenario where the Ombudsman would conclude that the officers’ complaints were justified and they deserved the promotion, the government can then turn round and say all the vacancies have been filled. It’s not like the army has hundreds of lieutenant colonels. This is really a statement of arrogance,” he said.
Experienced army officers who spoke to this newspaper said it was obvious the government was procrastinating. “This is an exercise to control the army. Unless you sell your soul you have no chance of advancing. There is no respect for the independence of the armed forces or the police force so their performance is undermined,” another officer told the Times of Malta.
None of the top six officers who led the army before the change in government remain. The previous administration had made an effort over a number of years to reform the army and ensure officers received training at reputable international military academies as they moved up the ranks.
Since Labour was elected in 2013, the current AFM commander, Brigadier Jeffrey Curmi, was promoted from major to lieutenant colonel, to colonel and to brigadier in the space of three weeks.
The Home Affairs Ministry told this newspaper the latest round of promotions was part of an ongoing process addressing a need for the AFM to perform its duties.
caroline.muscat@timesofmalta.com