Confusion reigns over resignations of permanent secretaries

It is not clear whether permanent secretaries serving under the PN administration were asked to resign by the new administration or whether they 'voluntarily' handed in their resignations.

The issue arose this evening in parliament after Opposition MP Mario de Marco asked the Prime Minister to explain why the permanent secretaries had been asked to resign.

Parliamentary secretary Michael Farrugia, who answered the question instead of the Prime Minister who left Malta to Brussels, provided the House with the list of permanent secretaries who served between 1992 and 2013.

But when the Opposition asked for clarifications as to whether the permanent secretaries had been asked to resign, Farrugia suggested that the MPs table a question in parliament which would be subsequently answered by the Prime Minister.

Protesting, Opposition whip David Agius argued that Farrugia should be in a position to reply as the question had been a continuation of a series of questions.

"This is not the first time we are raising questions about permanent secretaries and therefore Farrugia should have been prepared," he said.

Nationalist MP George Pullicino also asked the government to clarify whether the resignation of the permanent secretaries was according to the Constitution.

In what appeared to be a "clean sweep" of permanent secretaries across the board, the Labour administration had accepted all but two resignation letters handed in by the permanent secretaries.

A third one had been placed in a different ministry.

When the designate-head of the civil service Mario Cutajar invited all permanent secretaries and other government appointees to hand in their resignations, Nationalist MP Mario de Marco had lambasted this request, insisting that it went "against all standard procedures and ignoring Constitutional provisions".