Former Net TV boss joins government gravy train

Fabian Demicoli, the former head of news at the Nationalist Party’s media arm, has been awarded a public relations consultancy contract with Infrastructure Malta despite already holding a full-time communications role at the Chamber of SMEs (GRTU).

Details of the appointment obtained through a Freedom of Information request obtained by The Shift show Demicoli is being paid €1,500 per month for 30 hours of weekly consultancy work. He is also eligible for an additional €50 per hour for any overtime, raising questions about how he reconciles the role with his full-time post at the Chamber of SMEs, where he is expected to work over 40 hours a week.

Demicoli’s contract was signed in September and is due for renewal later this year. His appointment is understood to have been facilitated by Steve Ellul, CEO of Infrastructure Malta and a former Labour MEP candidate.

A former prominent figure at Net TV, Demicoli held several key roles under successive Nationalist Party leaderships. He initially served as head of news during Simon Busuttil’s tenure as PN leader and was later promoted to head of programmes under Adrian Delia.

His subsequent appearance on Labour’s ONE TV—alongside his brother, presenter Keith Demicoli—sparked criticism from PN supporters, who accused the pair of switching political allegiance.

Demicoli is among several individuals currently drawing consultancy fees from Infrastructure Malta.

The most prominent among them is Gabby Mallia, who specialises in procurement and EU funds, and has been awarded direct orders on nearly all of the agency’s EU-funded projects in recent years. Mallia is estimated to have earned over €1 million in the past five years.

Other consultants include Veronique Dalli, sister of Energy Minister Miriam Dalli, who was recently rejected for a European Court of Justice post; architect Antoine Zammit of Studjurban, who is linked to controversial development projects; and Jonathan Scerri, a former chairman of Enemalta.

The growing list of consultancy appointments includes figures said to have received state contracts or appointments, including media personalities Saviour Balzan and Lou Bondi, as well as author Mark Camilleri.