From my perspective, it was more widespread than we would wish. The public service is overstaffed.

How many CEOs, chairmen and directors does this tiny country need?

Most of them are cronies for the simple reason that you need to be in the inner circle to get noticed and headhunted.

Most of them also perform poorly, because the return on investment (if you wish to call their inflated salaries an investment) is very poor. Most of them also accumulate jobs (tenured positions at the University of Malta or membership of various government boards are a favourite).

I don’t think that’s right. If you’re paying someone a massive CEO’s salary, then that’s a full time job and they shouldn’t be doing anything else.

I know of one person who gives the impression that he is extraordinarily competent in his work. I had the misfortune to work with him and can only describe him in one word – a disaster.

A call for applications was issued for a senior post. He was eligible and he applied. Thankfully the selection board saw through his bluff and chose someone else.

Needless to say, he kicked up a fuss about it. Because he grossly overrates himself, he is unable to realise and understand that the selection process was fair.

Baxxter, again I beg to differ. You give the impression that it was widespread. I do not exclude that there were instances where what you say happened but, from my perspective, it was very much the exception.

Let us take the CEO of Transport Malta as an example. He was selected following a call for applications and a rigorous selection process. The person selected was competent and was doing a good job. Following the elections, he was removed and replaced with someone else by direct appointment. Because of the rigorous manner he was selected and his doing a good job, his brusque replacement was most unjust.

It is human nature. If there are five applicants for a post, the four unsuccessful applicants will cry foul, even if the selection process is totally clean and fair.

There were, and there will always be, some politicians who will try to intervene in selection processes. Under the PN, however, the mechanisms for a fair selection process were applied and, in my opinion, in most cases they worked well.

I also know of many others who were given hugely inflated salaries not at all commensurate with their duties, or with the salary of the previous holders of the post. That’s also corruption. But everything was done by the book.

You see, what I’m trying to say is that very often, the rules aren’t broken – they’re just wrong in the first place. And that’s the trouble with this country.

Whistleblowers? Don’t make me laugh. When has anyone ever rocked the boat in this blessed island?

Malta is a small place, and people talk – behind one another’s backs, to be sure, but they talk. The Nationalist government used to defend itself with the tired and worn mantra that in order to “attract quality” you need to pay huge salaries. Only the quality didn’t match the salaries. In many cases, performance was pathetic, qualifications largely hyped, and results not delivered. With our sclerotic political system, the only way to bring about change was to bring about a change in government. Hence “Taghna Lkoll”.

No. Please read what I wrote. It’s not about political allegiance, but cronyism.

Almost none of it is against the rules – there’s the rub. You just issue a call for applications and then choose the “friends of”. Or create a post that does not require a call for applications. Or create a post with a definite contract, renewable annually, so you get your friends in under the radar, and then just renew their contract.

That’s why it will never be eradicated.

Where do you get these gems from, Antoine Vella? Is there importation legal?

So anyone capable who happens to have declared support for a political party is disqualified? It’s true that we have few true independents, but I know for a fact that many officials, even ones with a PN tendency, would have been perfectly happy to serve under a Labour administration because they are professionals. Many were simply not given the opportunity: the Permanent Secretaries, career ambassadors and a host of others.

Carlo Mifsud – PL Candidate from Siggiewi is now CFO at the Lotteries and Gaming Authority

http://mt.linkedin.com/in/carlomifsud

Alex Cutajar – Student / Blogger who can’t write a decent sentence in English given a government post as shown in the comments in this article.

http://www.alexcutajar.com/2014/01/irregular-migration-george-vella-on-cnn.html#comment-form

I know of at least one director who was appointed by the previous government without a call for applications.

“Baxter [Double XX please: Baxxter], are you aware of any other public sector posts which were appointed without a call for applications by the PN in government?”

Yes I am.