Meanwhile, Micallef has received constant criticism, both locally and abroad, in his previous role as V18 Chairman, with his rants against the Daphne Caruana Galizia protest site in Valletta,  ridicule of the assassinated journalist’s last written words, and his constant bashing of protestors drawing the ire of opponents.

The Dutch town of Leuuwarden, which shared the position of European Capital of Culture with Valletta in 2018, ended up boycotting Malta in protest at Micallef’s comments.

A European Commission report published in December 2019 slammed Micallef for causing “considerable damage” to the European Capital of Culture’s international reputation.

However, Former Culture Minister Owen Bonnici, his employer, has regularly stood by Micallef, citing free-speech with little concern for the Public Administration Act.

On a different note, his use of public funds has also raised questions, with Micallef hosting an exclusive, tax-payer funded New Year’s Eve bash for the last six years.

2. What does the law say?

The code of ethics in the Public Administration Act does not apply to any ordinary citizen, with the legislation explaining that persons in public roles must be held to a higher standard.

The act insists that all public employees should maintain political neutrality and not undermine and jeopardise the impartiality of that state authority, even if they are public comments made on social media.

Meanwhile, the law also calls on all public employees to treat all citizens with respect regardless of their  “opinion, beliefs, and individuality”.

“Ultimately, the authority of any system of Public Administration rests on the extent to which it earns the respect of its citizens.”

“That respect comes from the confidence which people have in the integrity of the system generally, and in [its] professionalism and impartiality,” the law reads.

Questions sent to Micallef were unanswered at the time of publication.

3. Micallef’s role as Chairman at ONE also raises impartiality issues

Micallef officially has four different jobs, two of which are with the government. Beyond serving as the Chairman of the Valletta Cultural Agency, he is also in charge of coordinating the Ta’ Qali National Park extension, which reportedly earns him an extra €18,000 per year.

Besides his government roles, Micallef remains the Chairman of ONE, the Labour Party’s highly partisan media platform often criticised for dishing out propaganda. This, sources said, spits in the face of impartiality clauses placed within the Public Administration Act.

When he was first promoted to Chairman of V18 (The Cultural Agency’s precursor) in 2013, Joseph Muscat had pledged to remove Micallef from his One post. However, seven years later, this has failed to materialise.

As of 2016, he was earning €25,000 a year for the role.

There is no official record of his ONE salary, but sources estimated he earns between €40,000 to €50,000 per year for the position.

Most recently, the Malta Football Association hired him to serve as Chairman of Sports Plus Ltd. It is as yet unclear what sort of remuneration he receives.

With Joseph Muscat stepping down as Prime Minister, it remains to be seen how his successor Robert Abela will move forward.