PBS board member rallying the masses to support Joseph Muscat

PBS board member Norman Hamilton is calling for people to protest in front of the courts in Valletta on 28 May, when disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat is scheduled to appear in court to face charges of bribery, fraud and money laundering.

In a comment beneath a Facebook post, Hamilton said Labour supporters should be there to back Muscat who is facing charges of money laundering, bribery and corruption following the conclusion of a four-year magisterial inquiry into the privatisation of three of Malta’s public hospitals.

“On 28 May, everyone should be standing in front of the law courts so Labourites can send a colossal message to the members of ‘the establishment’,” Hamilton said on Facebook.

He immediately received a reply from another Labour supporter spouting expletives, hate and false accusations against the opposition while insisting ‘she’ would be there to support Muscat.

Hamilton was commenting on a Facebook post in the governing Labour Party’s secret online groups exposed by The Shift, that said, “Labour’s real power must be shown on 8 June (the European Parliament elections)”.

As a PBS board member, Hamilton has an obligation to maintain political neutrality.

The Code of Ethics for Public Employees and Board Members states they must “ensure that any public comments made (including on social media), and, or their participation in political activities, do not undermine or jeopardise public confidence in the competence and impartiality of the public administration, or bring these same public employees and board members into conflict with their duty to impartially serve the Government”.

Heritage Minister Owen Bonnici confirmed Norman Hamilton formed part of the PBS board in answer to a parliamentary question by Opposition MP Claudette Buttigieg.

Yet MBR records do not list him as a director. Questions sent to the minister for an explanation were not answered.

The Hamiltons

The present administration has long blurred the line between party and government. And Hamilton is no novice at rallying the masses to support an authoritarian leader.

With his wife Josette, the Hamiltons were the popular face of the Labour Party in the 1980s, when Labour Party thugs were joined by the police to beat protesters.

The Hamiltons were a constant presence on the state broadcaster, at the time called Xandir Malta, running a seven-hour show every Saturday called ‘Sibtijiet Flimkien’ when the public had nothing else to watch because then-prime minister Dom Mintoff controlled broadcasting and even the purchase of TVs.

The couple was tasked with ‘entertaining’ the public and propping up the Labour Party’s message while ministers like Lorry Sant looted the country.

Norman Hamilton was investigated for alleged mismanagement at Xandir Malta during the 1980s, but no formal charges were ever brought against him.

The Hamiltons have continued supporting the Labour Party since then, and the family was rewarded when Joseph Muscat took power in 2013.

Norman Hamilton was appointed High Commissioner for Malta in the UK that year, a post he held for five years until 2018.

Upon returning to Malta, Muscat made him chairman of Festivals Malta, where over a million euro worth of direct orders were issued to companies supplying services to the Labour Party for its events.

A National Audit Office report described Festivals Malta, when run by Hamilton, as “a village club”.