Watch: ‘He Has A Right To Work With Us’ – Galdes Defends Employment Of Former PN Official
Social Accommodation Minister Roderick Galdes defended the Housing Authority’s decision to employ a former PN official in a managerial role after his employment was heavily criticised by PL activist Neville Gafà.
Gafà has criticised Galdes and Housing Authority CEO Matthew Zerafa for employing Edward Mizzi due to his political past as the private secretary of former PN leader Simon Busuttil and head of office of his successor Adrian Delia.
“Under a Labour-led administration, he remarkably transitioned to a prestigious role as Senior Manager in the CEO’s Office at the Housing Authority, despite his deeply rooted Nationalist past,” Gafà wrote on his blog.
“While seasoned Labour supporters remain stuck in the mud of bureaucracy, pleading and waiting endlessly for their deserved opportunities, Mizzi enjoys an untroubled ascendancy through the ranks.”
However, Galdes said that civil servants should be judged based on their output, rather than their political allegiances.
“We’re talking about a public authority, not a political entity,” Galdes said on Andrew Azzopardi’s RTK show.
“The Housing Authority employs around 250 employees and 22 senior managers. God forbid I, as minister, had to interfere in the Housing Authority’s employment decisions or disqualify a qualified person from a job at a public authority.”
“I think it would be a crime and I shouldn’t be making these manoeuvres as minister. You can criticise me all you please but the fact is that we work with everyone and don’t look at individuals’ political colours. So long as they do a good job, they should have a right to participate and work in the country.”
Galdes said that he personally faced political discrimination when he was employed as a civil servant under a PN administration.
“I spent a year and half sitting at my desk doing nothing just because I was a PL activist, but I don’t believe in that style of politics. I think that both Joseph Muscat and Robert Abela opened the government’s doors to everyone, including PN supporters who approached us.”
PN MP Ivan Bartolo said that he knows PL supporters who were employed as permanent secretaries under former PN ministers.
“If we stick with this perception of Malta being split into two tribes, we’re not going progress. You might argue that Malta isn’t ready for it, but as a politician I am doing my utmost to move the country to a more unified state.”
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