Tista’ taqra dan l-artiklu bil-Malti

Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne has put his new personal adviser, a 28-year-old lawyer, on a €65,000 financial package, despite her lack of experience in government administration, according to information obtained through a Freedom of Information request.

After hitting the headlines for an “irregular” €163,000 a year contract he gave to his close campaign manager and friend, Carmen Ciantar, as CEO of the Foundation for Medical Services, Fearne has now turned to Paula Cauchi, a former Labour TV reporter as his chief adviser and political strategist.

Cauchi, who has just returned to Malta from a week in New York assisting her minister in UN meetings, is being paid more than the minister himself.

Despite graduating from the University of Malta only a few years ago, Cauchi is already receiving a basic salary normally associated with government ambassadors, apart from a raft of perks and allowances, boosting her salary to almost €5,500 a month.

Information sought through a Freedom of Information request shows how Cauchi has made annual strides forward in her publicly-funded remuneration since she started associating herself with Minister Fearne.

After a short stint working as a spokesperson for Helena Dalli, later appointed European Commissioner, Cauchi, the daughter of former Labour MP Gino Cauchi, immediately joined Fearne’s bandwagon.

Through a part-time contract signed by Carmen Ciantar, who she has now replaced at the ministry, the former ONE reporter was recruited as a Contractual Manager at the Foundation for Medical Services in 2018.

At first, Cauchi only worked 25 hours a week for a financial package of almost €32,000.

However, she was given two significant payment boosts in 2019 and 2020, reaching a package of almost €40,000 by the end of 2019.

Together with Carmen Ciantar, at the time Fearne’s chief confidante, Cauchi was given an important role in Fearne’s personal bid to take over the leadership of the Labour Party soon after disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat was forced to resign.

However, the Ciantar-Cauchi duo failed to achieve the desired result as Abela, at the time the underdog in the race, ended up beating Fearne.

Government sources told The Shift that soon after the failed election, Fearne asked for Cauchi to start working at his office at the ministry as his main adviser.

Through her new contract, Cauchi was put on a government salary Scale 3 and given an added €16,000 a year ‘expertise allowance’.

With all her perks and bonuses, including allowances for communications, transport, and others, Cauchi is paid almost €65,000.

Meanwhile, it is unclear whether Fearne has renegotiated the €163,000 contract he gave to Ciantar at the FMS as promised before the general elections in March.

Both Prime Minister Robert Abela and Fearne had admitted that Ciantar’s public contract, revealed by The Shift, would be revised when it expired.

As a person of trust, Ciantar’s contract should have ended at the last general elections and, according to protocol, a new contract should have been drawn up.

FMS sources told The Shift that Fearne is so far refusing to abide by the direction given to him by the prime minister.

Questions sent to the OPM on the subject were not answered.

The Shift also revealed that Fearne also put Carmen Ciantar’s 26-year-old daughter, Celine, on a government board at his ministry.