The hunt for Sai Mizzi Liang’s successor seems to be shrouded under a veil of secrecy, with state investment arm Malta Enterprise refusing to say how many applications have been received.
Submissions for the Shangai-based post of Malta Enterprise China representative closed on Friday November 4. The vacancy had been created in the wake of Ms Mizzi Liang’s decision not to seek another term when her contract expired last August.
Her appointment, which was not made through a public call, had fuelled controversy, due to her ambassadorial remuneration and the fact that she was Minister Without Portfolio Konrad Mizzi’s wife.
This time around, the State investment agency opted to advertise the vacancy in newspapers, together with a short job description and the required qualifications. Details about the remuneration package were not disclosed when the public call was made in October 2015.
The candidate will not necessarily earn the same €13,000 monthly package. The conditions will depend on their qualifications
It later transpired that the selected candidate would not necessarily get the same €13,000 monthly package enjoyed by Ms Mizzi Liang. This was confirmed by a Malta Enterprise spokeswoman, who told this newspaper that the conditions would depend on the candidate’s qualifications and experience.
A month after the vacancy deadline, the Times of Malta asked how many applicants had expressed interested in the post, as well as their identities.
In her reply, the spokeswoman would only say that the evaluation process was identical to one used for other recruitments made by the agency. The question on the number of applicants was skirted completely, and details of their identities were not divulged, with the agency claiming that this would go against the Data Protection Act.
According to the job description, the selected candidate would be answerable to the CEO or his delegated authority. Furthermore, the applicant is expected to identify development opportunities, target potential investors, facilitate commercial ties and support Malta’s diplomatic representatives in the Chinese region.
Throughout Ms Mizzi Liang’s three-year tenure, the government faced criticism from the Opposition, which claimed her appointment defeated Labour’s meritocracy pledge. “Judge me by my results and not by what people say. Judge me by what I do for you,” she told journalists at Smart City when Prime Minister Joseph Muscat inaugurated a representative office of Chinese telecom company Huawei.
Despite being continuously under the spotlight, Malta Enterprise refused to disclose Ms Mizzi Liang’s list of achievements, citing “commercial sensitivity”.