An anomalous situation: a Shanghai consul who reports to Malta Enterprise and Economy Minister Chris Cardona rather than to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

In Times of Malta:

Defending the government’s decision to handpick the wife of Energy Minister Konrad Mizzi, George Vella insisted Malta’s Ambassador to China was Clifford Borg Marks and not Ms Mizzi Liang, after the Prime Minister said she was given the same conditions as former ambassadors.

Dr Vella compared the role of Ms Mizzi Liang to that of a consul, which Malta already had in other countries.

“There is no duplication. Sai Mizzi will be working from Shanghai, which is miles away from Beijing [where Mr Borg Marks is accredited],” he told Times of Malta.

“It is good to have more people in China due to its large territory. I believe we need tens of people like Sai Mizzi to do a proper job and attract invest-ment to Malta.”

Have you noticed how the facts are coming out in blips and burps? First, Sai Mizzi was Malta Enterprise’s special envoy; that is in fact what is stipulated in her contract with Mario Vella of that organisation.

But since being appointed last year, she has remained without an office address or work telephone number on which interested parties can contact her.

Now last week, when the prime minister was in China, he let slip – intentionally – that Mrs Mizzi will be based in Shanghai and that a consulate would be opened there for her.

This should have triggered a separate run of stories in the press, but it didn’t. A consul is not a Malta Enterprise envoy. A Malta Enterprise envoy is not a consul. There is nothing in Mrs Mizzi’s contract which mentions consular work.

It should now occur to us that Mrs Konrad Mizzi has another contract, possibly with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs or directly with the Office of the Prime Minister or the deputy prime minister (who was on the China trip last week and signed the MOU while the prime minister stood behind him, though he is Minister for Europe).

We’ve been demanding to see a copy of her contract with Malta Enterprise, so that is exactly what the prime minister placed on the table of the House – after much pressure and great delay.

But it does not mean there is no other contract.

Consuls are Ministry of Foreign Affairs officials but Sai Mizzi can hold the two posts concurrently: consul and envoy. As Malta Enterprise envoy, she reports to the Economy Minister, Chris Cardona. But as consul, she has to report to the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

As consul, she will also work indirectly for the minister responsible for issuing visas – regular visas or visas issued under the ‘passports for money’ scheme. This would be Manuel Mallia, Minister of Home Affairs.