PM should pick technocrat for Home Affairs minister – MaltaToday online poll

Over half of some 2,000-odd voters on a MaltaToday online poll believe the appointment of a technocrat to steward the Home Affairs ministry would be a more apt choice for the Prime Minister, after the resignation of Carm Mifsud Bonnici.

The loss of Mifsud Bonnici in May saw Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi take responsibility of the home affairs and local councils ministry, just five months after having promoted previous responsibilities for public dialogue, local councils, environment, tourism and culture to respective ministries.

Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is now responsible for some serious decisions concerning immigration, as well as the Police Corps and the prisons, meaning the prime minister's work this summer will not be a light load.

But only 226 (11%) of the 1,977 votes submitted to the MaltaToday online poll feel the prime minister should be responsible for this important job.

And asked whether a former minister, like the experienced Francis Zammit Dimech, should be given the job, only 10% (200) voted in favour. Zammit Dimech was previously minister in charge of the environment, resources, and also tourism, having presided over waste management reforms and the introduction of low-cost airlines to Malta.

There was slightly more approval for Beppe Fenech Adami, the parliamentary assistant in the home affairs ministry, to take the lead. With support from 22% of the votes (400), Fenech Adami's promotion to minister would seal a sense of continuity with the legacy left by his father, former prime minister Eddie Fenech Adami.

But a decision to appoint a new minister could be fraught with trouble for Gonzi, whose one-seat majority might be threatened yet again by unhappy aspirants who believe they are minister-material.

Here the online vote seems to clearly understand the benefits of appointing technocrats to such positions in times of emergency, with 1,105 voters (56%) saying an unelected expert should be given the ministry.

Technically, that could mean the home affairs permanent secretary, who is the top civil servant with expertise on home affairs.

But in the past, Gonzi has remarked privately in a conversation with the US ambassador Molly Bordonaro of the "limited talent pool" at his disposal, and that he could not appoint technocrats to the Cabinet.