€61 an hour ‘thank you’ consultancy for Zammit Lewis

Rosianne Cutajar has signed off on a publicly funded consultancy for her former minister Edward Zammit Lewis, giving him €61 an hour for legal advice.

The contract, obtained by The Shift, engages the former justice minister as a part-time legal consultant to the Ministry for Equality and Civil Rights for 10 hours a week.

It lists €11,476 for his services, topped up by a €14,000 annual “expertise allowance” linked to his law degree – a qualification fundamental to the legal work he has been engaged to perform.

There is more: €2,000 in expenses, €1,600 for communications and €2,320 as a car allowance. Together, the annual allowances amount to €19,920.

The appointment brings the two politicians back together, with their positions reversed.

Cutajar once served under Zammit Lewis. Now she controls the ministry paying him.

The Shift is also informed that Zammit Lewis is putting pressure on other ministries for additional jobs. Whether those approaches have resulted in further contracts remains to be established.

Hanging up his political boots after a series of failures, Zammit Lewis did not contest May’s general elections, announcing that he would focus on his legal profession. His departure from electoral politics has nevertheless brought another engagement on the government payroll.

The Shift revealed the consultancy in September. Cutajar confirmed the appointment, citing his legal expertise, government experience and previous responsibility for equality. She said the engagement followed applicable procedures but did not disclose its financial terms.

The contract now exposes the package behind that appointment.

Their political relationship goes back years.

Between January 2020 and February 2021, Cutajar was parliamentary secretary for equality and reforms within Zammit Lewis’s justice ministry.

She resigned pending an ethics investigation into her involvement in an Mdina property deal involving Yorgen Fenech. The Standards Commissioner subsequently found that she had failed to declare brokerage income.

Zammit Lewis later supported accepting the findings while arguing against a heavier punishment.

“I believe that Rosianne Cutajar paid a hard political price,” he told the Standards Committee in November 2021.

A week later, he opposed suspending her from Parliament and proposed a reprimand, arguing that losing her government role had already carried a high political cost.

Now, his former junior colleague has approved his return as a consultant through the the use of public funds.

For Zammit Lewis, government consultancy work is familiar territory.

During his spell on the backbench between 2017 and 2019, he or his legal practice secured engagements involving Identity Malta, the Lands Authority, the energy ministry, the National Development and Social Fund and film entities.

The Shift had revealed that his legal consultancy direct orders between 2017 and 2019 had reached €140,600. He relinquished consultancy roles when he returned to Cabinet in July 2019.

In 2022, Robert Abela failed to appoint Zammit Lewis as a Minister and despite lobbying he was never promoted.