There are at least 161 persons of trust working within the private secretariat of Malta’s many ministries, more than double their public sector counterparts, new alarming figures have revealed. 

Following a series of questions from PN MP Claudette Buttigieg, most ministries gave a rundown of the organisational structures within their private secretariat. The only ones who have not are the Ministry for Home Affairs and the Ministry For Heritage, Arts And Local Governance. 

In total, there are 161 persons or positions of trust, compared to around 86 people employed through the public sector. 

The worst offender by some margin is the Office of the Prime Minister, which has no less than 44 persons of trust under its employment. Deputy Prime Minister Chris Fearne also uses the system heavily,  having around 27 positions of trust, compared to just one public sector employee. 

Other major offenders include the Tourism Ministry’s secretariat, which has 20 persons of trust, and the Foreign Affairs Ministry, which has 16 persons of trust within its private secretariat.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the Gozo Ministry, which has just two persons of trust in its secretariat, compared to 15 public sector employees.  

A person of trust generally refers to political appointees who are employed by the government without a call for applications. However, it is a system that is often used and abused by Maltese governments.

The government’s insistence on appointing people to positions of trust on a whim has been a controversial issue for the current and previous administration, with figures showing that as of 2018 there were at least 683 people in such positions

However, little has been done to stop the practice with Ministers also using direct orders and consultancies to fill the pockets of their inner circle, as seen in the recent case involving Justyne Caruana and Daniel Bogdanovic. 

What do you think of the figures?