An unprecedented number of high-profile resignations from state corporations and positions of trust in various ministries has been a source of embarrassment during the first eight months of the Labour government.
In his talking point in Times of Malta, former Labour minister Lino Spiteri last Monday warned that “further chopping and changing and musical chairs can’t be tolerated”.
Following Labour’s historic landslide victory at the polls, 15 Labour-appointed senior officials have already stepped down.
However, the instability at the government’s energy billing agency, ARMS Ltd, is probably the one that has raised the most questions.
An Energy Ministry spokeswoman told The Sunday Times of Malta that the government was committed to improving operations at ARMS, remarking that the most recent changes would not have a negative impact.
“This change is part of the government’s plan to strengthen ARMS further,” the spokeswoman said.
The latest changes were triggered a week ago by the appointment of Louis Giordimaina as Air Malta CEO and the unexpected resignation of Tony Mejlaq as chairman of Water Services Corporation and ARMS Limited. No reason was given for Mr Mejlaq’s departure after just six months at the helm.
While Frederick Azzopardi was named the new Enemalta CEO following the departure of Mr Giordimaina, deputy chairman John Abela was appointed to take the reins at ARMS.
Mr Abela is the third chairman to step in since April when Xgħajra mayor Anthony Valvo was appointed following the dismissal of Wilfred Borg as CEO.
Though Mr Valvo had not been appointed on an interim basis, less than three months into his job he was told to step down as the government wanted to place ARMS under the chairmanship of the WSC.
As a result, Mr Mejlaq, who had been appointed in April, took over towards the end of June. However, he resigned from both posts last month.
Though his deputy was appointed as his successor at ARMS, the new WSC chairman is yet to be announced. In the wake of these appointments questions were raised over whether the government has decided to backtrack on its plans to have WSC and ARMS under the same chairmanship.
The Energy Ministry said that in spite of all its shortcomings, ARMS managed to register an improvement in areas such as smart meter activation, reduction of locked accounts and the cleansing of data.
Resignations Timeline
• May: Ramona Attard resigns as chief of staff in the Parliamentary Secretariat for European Funds and is appointed deputy chief of staff and communications coordinator at the Home Affairs Ministry.
• June: Brian Montebello, permanent secretary in the Ministry for Sustainable Development, Environment and Climate Change, steps down.
• June: Cyrus Engerer steps down as private secretary of Parliamentary Secretary Ian Borg and is appointed as consultant to the Home Affairs Ministry.
• June: ARMS chairman Anthony Valvo resigns and is replaced by Water Services Corporation chairman Tony Mejlaq following the strategic decision to have both entities under the same chairmanship.
• July: Claudio Tonna, chief of staff in Ministry of Health, resigns and is appointed projects manager within the same ministry. Labour councillor and former MEP candidate Christian Zammit takes his place.
• July: Joseph Cachia resigns as chief of staff in the Finance Ministry and is appointed consultant with the Social Policy Ministry.
• July: Michael Ferry resigns as chief of staff in the Education Ministry and is replaced by Joseph Caruana.
• August: George Azzopardi resigns as chief of staff of the Social Policy ministry and is replaced by Joe Cachia from within the ministry’s secretariat.
• August: Victor Agius, the chief of staff in the Parliamentary Secretariat for Agriculture and Fisheries, resigns.
• August: Martin Vella resigns as chief of staff in the Parliamentary Secretariat of Justice.
• September: Sandro Mangion resigns as chief of staff in the Parliamentary Secretariat of Youth and Sport.
• September: Jonathan Barbara who was appointed in May, resigns as chairman of the Kunsill Malti għall-Isport.
• October: Gaming Authority chairman Mario Galea resigns after five months and is appointed as a consultant.
• November: WSC and ARMS chairman Tony Mejlaq resigns after just five months.
• November: Former Gozo Channel chairman Joseph Grech – who was appointed consultant with the Gozo Ministry on Gozo Channel affairs – resigns his position.