Why Alan Camilleri epitomises the Gonzi doctrine

The Times’ journalist Ivan Camilleri has a brother called Alan Camilleri. They have one thing in common, apart from being big pains in the neck. Both of them share blind faith in the Prime Minister.

Nothing wrong with that. Loyalty is, after all, a virtue. Alan is a former theology graduate, a former public relations officer at Castille, once married, now separated, and a stickler for detail. If Alan Camilleri was a Labourite – and he is not – I am sure that the blog from hell would tear him to pieces and reveal all the juicy details about his personal life and sexual orientation.

But Alan Camilleri is not only a blind Nationalist, but a perfect Gonzi follower, so one should not expect any character assassination here. Camilleri is more than just the politically-appointed Chief Executive at Malta Enterprise. He is perhaps the epitome of the entire Gonzi way of thinking. A theology graduate who embraced the old way, he moved up the career ladder rather fast. And somewhere along the line he lost his religion (metaphorically, please).

A person derided for his intolerance to others, he still retains one of the more important positions in the administration - that of investment.

Malta Enterprise has been the Cinderella of this and other administrations. We have had all sorts of Chairmen and Chief Executives there with little interest in the wellbeing of this country yet  very great interest in their own wellbeing and financial remuneration. 

He was the PM’s PRO, and soon made a name for himself by telling journalists how to dress. He then he left to become the coordinator for the Euro-changeover committee and chairman of the CHOGM coordination, then left for Dhalia, and then suddenly appeared at Malta Enterprise.

There he surrounded himself by close friends, Jesmond Bonello of Content House being one of them and Vince Farrugia another: a former rabid Mintoffian and now a well known apologist to the Gonzi administration.

I remember asking Camilleri when he was at Castille what his Prime Minister thought of gay rights. His answer was rude and short. The PM does not concern himself over these issues, he said. “Ask more pertinent questions.”

Well good for him, bad for Alan, I thought. I thought that here we had someone who not only professed conservatism but lived it.

We all learnt that Alan was practically doing the opposite. Including dragging his friend to the office in his fast car, which he later crashed rather badly. So I asked myself: why is it okay for the Prime Minister to voice concern about so-called diminishing values and different styles of life, but sees no problem if it concerns his people?

The answer to all this is to be found in either the Prime Minister’s jaundiced view of the world, or else his inability to tell his immediate entourage that what applies to the rest of the population also applies to them.

Camilleri’s brusque and eccentric ways have no limits, as the employees at Malta Enterprise have discovered. Malta Enterprise is by all means already a farce: run like a fiefdom for those who think they understand investment but are really and truly just blue-eyed boys and girls.

Even the legal department is partitioned out to a Nationalist parliamentarian, when in all fairness this could be carried out by the legal staff there. The same applies to other agencies such as MEPA: there, of course, dished out to another family.

Camilleri heads one of Malta’s more important agencies, but with nothing to show for it. An agency which is supposed to attract investment into the country but, let us face it, with little coordination from Camilleri to make this realisable.

Since he took over at Malta Enterprise, the level of investment has been abysmal. Two companies (Bryvac and Infratec), currently in court with Malta Enterprise, were given the green light by him personally.  The two companies folded up after some teething problems. But only after taxpayers money was pumped into the companies and lost, of course.

The culture he has inculcated at ME has not paid dividends. He has employed more young upstarts, ostracising the experienced staff, and arbitrarily reduced their bonuses without making a distinction between good promoters, hard workers and lazy slobs.

Worse still, he has spearheaded the promotion of Malta as a place for permanent residency in the same time that his Minister (Tonio Fenech) has withdrawn permits for permanent residency because of serious abuses by some foreign residents seeking an entry into the Schengen area.

What a mess! And worse still he has wasted precious time at Malta Enterprise, worrying over the length of beards, hair, waistline and bulging pockets and not looking at the bigger picture.

Alan Camilleri’s antics and the way he treats staff – many of which are senior managers with Nationalist leanings – has had no limits. His actions have reached the ears of the Prime Minister - and again the PM has done nothing. Which is perhaps symptomatic of this Prime Minister, as underlined by the famous traits of this Premiership.

1.     Protect your people even if they fail or err.

2.     Give a semblance of higher moral standing.

3.     But allow the ones around to do what the f*** they like.

4.     Agree in private that such things are unacceptable.

5.     Do nothing that changes the status quo.