Aqra bil-Malti

Dentist Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando is set to become Malta’s ambassador to Rwanda although  Malta has close to no diplomatic ties with the East African nation, which is currently on the brink of war.

Pullicino Orlando, a former PN MP turned Labour since the party was set to take the reins of power in 2013, will receive an honorarium as non-resident ambassador.

He already receives a government remuneration of €70,000 per year as the executive chairman of the National Skills Council, a satellite agency falling under the education ministry.

Before that he was appointed Head of the Malta Council for Science and Technology, a position he held for 13 years.

Sources in diplomatic circles have described his appointment as another way for Prime Minister Robert Abela to express gratitude for Pullicino Orlando’s defence of the Labour Party on social media, in posts often far from diplomatic, attacking government opponents.

He retains his current full-time government role while running his dental practice in Żebbuġ.

Pullicino Orlando first gained notoriety in 2008 when he attempted to turn ODZ land in Mistra, a Natura 2000 site, into a club. As a result, he was shunned by the then-PN government and was never given a cabinet position despite being elected from two districts.

Subsequently, he joined Labour and even ran for election on the party’s behalf, but failed to be elected since Labour voters do not consider him as ‘one of their own’.

Yet Pullicino Orlando has remained on the public payroll ever since Labour took power.

His nomination as ambassador will be reviewed by parliament’s public appointments committee in the coming weeks, together with other nominations made by Foreign Minister Ian Borg.

These include Labour candidate Lorna Vassallo for the position of ambassador to Cabo Verde, former Transport Malta CEO Jonathan Borg for Panama, former Xagħra Labour mayor Christian Zammit for Angola, and former Labour International Secretary Marc Vella Bonnici for Iceland.