PN spokesman Ryan Callus harshly criticised the “partisan comments” made by civil service head Mario Cutajar, saying he should respect impartiality or become a Labour electoral candidate.

Mr Callus objected to declarations made in a recent newspaper interview in which the principal permanent secretary said employing people of trust was a “necessity, especially after [Labour spent] 25 years in Opposition”.

Dubbing Mr Cutajar as third official spokesman for Prime Minister Joseph Muscat – the others being Kurt Farrugia and MP Carmelo Abela – Mr Callus said such partisan comments were unheard of, especially since Mr Cutajar’s role should be impartial and he was supposed to represent all public service employees.

It seems that Mr Cutajar is more interested in defending the Prime Minister than the public service at large

“It seems that, as head of all civil servants, Mr Cutajar is more interested in defending the Prime Minister and the Labour Party than the public service at large,” he said.

Mr Callus also hit out at Mr Cutajar for defending the 4,400 employees recruited within the civil service since Labour came to power, adding that the public was not experiencing any additional efficiency in government services.

“It is very evident to everyone except Mr Cutajar that these new jobs were only made for political expediency and vote buying using public money,” Mr Callus charged.

Rosalyn Borg, a new PN candidate, criticised Mr Cutajar for allowing employees in the private secretariats of various ministers to present partisan programmes on One TV, arguing that once they were on the public wage bill, they should stop acting also as Labour journalists.

She said they included Charlon Gouder, Ramona Attard and Jonathan Attard.

Mr Cutajar, who was appointed head of the civil service when Labour was elected in March last year, is a former deputy secretary general of the General Workers’ Union.