There were 373 promotions at the Armed Forces of Malta with effect from this year, 349 of which were backdated to January 1, according to information given to a parliamentary question.

However, the list also gave hundreds more promotions taking effect over the decades, with no indication when they were given.

And an estimate based on the PQ indicates that this would have added "hundreds of thousands of euro" to the wage bill, shadow minister for justice Jason Azzopardi said.

Dozens of PQs have been filed by the Nationalist MPs trying to ascertain how many jobs and how many promotions were given in the public sector just before the election.

Dozens of PQs have been filed by the Nationalist MPs trying to ascertain how many jobs and how many promotions were given in the public sector just before the election

So far, the only answers were that replies would be given at a later stage.

However, Home Affairs Minister Michael Farrugia's reply on promotions within his ministrywas less than illuminating: he explained there were some promotions at the AFM which were run-of-the-mill and an exercise conducted annually.

He added that the process started in October 2016 and concluded last May. Others were the result of "injustices" dating back before 2013, and that others were due to procedural promotions resulting from the length of service at particular grades.

However, no numbers were given and an anonymised list 37 pages long was presented to parliament, which on analysis revealed that 349 promotions were given this year.

There were also 16 promotions in the police department between May 1 –when the election was announced – and June 2 (backdated to May 15), plus a further five civilian members of the police (backdated to April 27). There was also one promotion within the Secret Service.

The PN has been crying foul about promotions given during the campaign, with Dr Azzopardi picking up the point as a supplementary question yesterday but the minister denied that this was any “corrupt practice”.

“This goes against the spirit of suspending appointments during an election so that jobs cannot be used to buy votes,” Dr Azzopardi told the Times of Malta.

Efforts by the Times of Malta to determine directly from the head of the civil service just how many jobs and promotions were awarded were unsuccessful. A reply was sent from the Department of Information instead, saying that the information was being gathered: “Do be aware that the compilation of information to reply the various related parliamentary questions is still underway.

“I am sure that you will appreciate that in order to put forward accurate information, and figures, data is still being collated from various public entities. It is therefore premature to comment at this stage.”

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