Chris Cardona now an expert on youth policy for €20,000

Former Labour Party deputy leader Chris Cardona, who was ousted from the party in 2020 following pressure from Prime Minister Robert Abela, has been appointed as a government consultant on youth policy — despite having no prior experience in the field.

According to information tabled in Parliament following a request by PN MP Graziella Attard Previ, Cardona has been engaged as a policy consultant within the secretariat of Parliamentary Secretary for Youth, Research and Innovation, led by Keith Azzopardi Tanti.

Cardona has been given a token 10-hour-a-week contract, paid pro rata at the level of Scale 3 of the public service. Yet his “expertise” allowance is being paid in full, amounting to €20,000 a year – the maximum allowed.

This allowance forms the bulk of Cardona’s financial compensation, which amounts to €3,000 a month for a 10-hour-a-week job.

According to the OPM’s own guidelines on how policy consultants are to be recruited and paid, expertise allowances are only to be given “in exceptional circumstances” and only to those who bring added value through expertise and knowledge of the subject.

The Shift is informed that the appointment was “imposed from above,” as part of the ongoing efforts by Prime Minister Abela to mend relations ahead of the next general elections.

Cardona, a criminal lawyer and former Economy Minister, has no record of involvement in youth affairs.

The case echoes a similar controversy earlier this year involving Amanda Muscat, then the partner of former Tourism Minister Clayton Bartolo, who had also been awarded a €20,000 expertise allowance despite lacking the necessary qualifications. The Standards Commissioner later ruled the arrangement “abusive,” prompting the Prime Minister to order the allowance repaid (even though she was given a 30% discount) and to pledge reforms to prevent such discretionary payments.

Questions are also being raised about the government’s continued refusal to publish comprehensive lists of ministerial consultants and advisers. Despite repeated Freedom of Information (FOI) requests filed by The Shift, the government has declined to release the names, roles, and contractual terms of its consultants, citing concerns over data protection.

The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner is currently investigating the government’s refusal. Critics argue that the lack of transparency enables politically motivated appointments and the accumulation of multiple part-time contracts by officials already serving in ministerial secretariats – a practice prohibited until the Labour government amended the rules.