About 70 employees at the state broadcasting station PBS have signed a petition urging the Education Minister to “use her influence” and reappoint Joe Mizzi who resigned as chairman after being filmed in a “drunken” state at a Eurovision Song Festival after-party in Dusseldorf.
In the petition, the employees said they were “shocked” that Mr Mizzi’s resignation was accepted, “especially when there are serious suspicions that he could have been set up”.
Mr Mizzi resigned on Monday, 14 months into his appointment, after a video was uploaded on YouTube 24 hours earlier, showing him falling to the ground and lying flat on his back at a reception on May 14.
Mr Mizzi insisted there was foul play even as he tendered his resignation.
The petition signed by PBS employees from all departments, urged Education minister Dolores Cristina to reappoint Mr Mizzi “as quickly as possible” because since he took over as chairman they were “relieved to see a sense of direction at PBS that had been long missing”.
“Throughout his presence here, Mr Mizzi worked to raise PBS to the level we want the state television to be,” they said.
The petition was sent to the minister on Tuesday.
Mrs Cristina wrote individually to all those who signed the petition and thanked them for their initiative. She agreed that everyone, including herself, saw “the sense of clear direction he managed to bring to PBS”.
She said she accepted his resignation with “great regret” and “respected” the decision he took to clear his name.
“He is treating what happened in Dusseldorf very seriously. He has serious suspicions about what happened and he is determined to do everything possible to find the truth. To do so – freely and with great respect towards the station’s credibility – he submitted his resignation,” Mrs Cristina wrote.
What was truly shocking, she added, was that the person who filmed the incident was ready to leave Mr Mizzi “in serious danger” instead of helping him.
Mr Mizzi has now filed a criminal complaint asking Police Commissioner John Rizzo to investigate the incident.
In a letter to Mr Rizzo, he noted that the footage was not shot with a mobile phone and one could also hear the voice of a young Maltese man who was behind the incident. The footage, he added, was subsequently edited after the station’s chief executive, Anton Attard, texted a person, saying he had recognised his voice.
He said the incident was orchestrated to such an extent that there was a photographer, video cameras were used and the footage was “manipulated” to make him look worse.
Mr Mizzi said he resorted to various professionals, including psychologist Mary Anne Lauri, who believed his behaviour was not of a person who was drunk.
He pointed out that the party organisers in Dusseldorf had given strict instructions to the bar staff not to serve drinks to people who were obviously drunk. Instead, he said he was given “a poisonous substance” that could have damaged his health.