Abusive recruitment continues as Head of Public Service ignores established practice

Although Malta officially entered an electoral campaign after the announcement that the general elections would be held on 30 May, recruitment, transfers, and promotions across the public sector have continued uninterrupted.

So far, it appears that the Head of the Public Service, Tony Sultana, is ignoring long-established standards intended to protect neutrality and prevent a caretaker government from using public employment to buy votes.

Since the Nationalist administrations led by former prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami, Maltese governments have traditionally imposed restrictions on recruitment, promotions, and discretionary appointments once an election is called.

These measures are typically communicated through internal directives from the Office of the Prime Minister or the Principal Permanent Secretary. Their purpose is to prevent the use of public employment as an electoral tool during politically sensitive periods.

Successive Labour administrations led by Alfred Sant and Joseph Muscat also followed this established practice.

However, OPM sources told The Shift that similar restraints have not been introduced by the incumbent Prime Minister, Robert Abela, or his Principal Permanent Secretary, Tony Sultana.

Questions sent to the Principal Permanent Secretary asking whether directives had been issued to suspend recruitment and promotion exercises during the campaign remained unanswered.

In 2017, after then-prime minister Joseph Muscat called a snap election, ministries and government departments were instructed not to issue new recruitment or promotion calls during the campaign period. Ongoing processes, however, were allowed to continue.

No comparable directive appears to have been issued following the latest election call.

Instead, government recruitment notices and selection processes have continued to be published during the opening days of the campaign. Ministries and public entities have proceeded with appointments even though the country is now formally in election mode.

Tony Sultana, who also serves as chairman of MITA, the government’s powerful IT agency, is widely known for his closeness to the Labour leadership.

The Shift recently revealed that Sultana, through his sons Glen and Kyle, is also involved in carrying out polling for the Labour Party. He is understood to have performed this role during the 2022 electoral campaign as well.

Before his direct appointment as Principal Permanent Secretary by Robert Abela, Sultana occupied senior positions within Labour administrations and is widely regarded as part of the party’s core administrative network.

Under his leadership, the distinction between the political executive and the supposedly neutral public service has become increasingly indistinct.