OPM and TM chiefs relocate offices to PL HQ as elections loom

Mark Mallia, the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, and Kurt Farrugia, CEO of Transport Malta and a key member of Labour’s electoral team, have shifted their offices to the Labour Party headquarters in Hamrun, signalling that general elections may be just weeks away.

While Prime Minister Robert Abela continues to insist, at least publicly, that no decision has yet been taken on the date, his actions and those of his closest aides suggest the country has already entered campaign mode. This is supported by endless social media posts from candidates contesting the next elections.

The Shift is informed that Mallia, a former Deputy Commander of the Armed Forces of Malta, has stopped attending his office at Castille and is now operating full-time from Labour’s Mile End headquarters.

With Labour’s electoral preparations in full swing, Mallia seems to be spending long hours meeting disgruntled party supporters reluctant to vote Labour in the coming elections, party sources have told The Shift.

He is also coordinating a newly formed Labour strategy group that includes the Prime Minister and his deputies, Transport Malta CEO Kurt Farrugia, former PL CEO James Piscopo, Film Commissioner Johann Grech and current PL CEO Leonid McKay.

Transport Malta sources confirmed to The Shift that Farrugia is currently working from the Labour Party headquarters rather than the transport regulator, while continuing to receive his €12,000 monthly government salary.

“We were told that if anything urgent at Transport Malta was needed, Farrugia should be contacted at the PL headquarters,” a senior TM official said.

Meanwhile, Farrugia’s deputy, Karen Zerafa, a staunch PL activist, effectively serves as the regulator’s CEO during this period.

Transport Minister Chris Bonett did not reply to questions about whether he had authorised Farrugia to work from Labour’s headquarters while remaining the regulator’s CEO. He also did not address questions on whether he agreed that the arrangement constituted an abuse of public funds.

Meanwhile, Labour has sharply increased its public campaigning.

Over recent weeks, the Prime Minister and his wife, Lydia Abela, have been making daily appearances at markets, shops, NGOs, village feasts, football matches and other public events, each heavily promoted across Labour’s and the government’s publicly paid media channels.

The government’s multi-million-euro Vision 2050 installation in Valletta, seen as a propaganda drive financed by taxpayers, is also scheduled to run until July, coinciding with the expected electoral campaigning period.