[ANALYSIS] In it for the ‘labour’

Prime Minister Muscat gave the major appointments of trust to his most trusted confidants: campaign manager Keith Schembri became the PM's chief of staff and party communications director Kurt Farrugia his communications coordinator. His other close ally, Labour Party Chief Executive James Piscopo, was instantly appointed executive chairman of the Transport Malta regulator, taking up the position previously held by entrepreneur Mark Portelli, a close collaborator of former Nationalist minister Austin Gatt.

Labour Party Deputy Leader for Party Affairs Toni Abela is also serving as a legal advisor to the prime minister, as well as consultant to Family Minister Marie Louise Coleiro Preca.

Also, Muscat's former assistant in the European Parliament, David Borg, is the new chairman of national waste agency Wasteserv. Borg's father, Tony, is a member of the new Malta IT Agency (MITA) board.

Other similar appointees include Louis Gatt, the head of Labour's electoral office, to membership on the Water Services Corporation and Carmen Sammut, head of party think tank Ideat, as chairperson of the Majjistral Park board.

A former Labour secretary-general, Jimmy Magro, was appointed to membership on the Water Services Corporation. And Mario Vella, former Labour Party president and former chairman of MDC under Alfred Sant, was returned to his former post on the MDC's successor Malta Enterprise.

Muscat confidant Joshua Zammit, until recently president of the Malta Employers Association, was appointed deputy chairman on Malta Industrial Parks.

Labour candidates

Several other Labour Party candidates were also rewarded with appointments to the boards of government corporations and entities: Nikita Zammit Alamango is on the Water Services Corporation; Chris Cilia and Rachel Tua, the latter serving as the PL's equal opportunities director, were installed on the board of the Lotteries and Gaming Authority; and Sigmund Mifsud, orchestra leader of Rockestra fame, failed to get elected and is now chairman of the Malta Philharmonic Orchestra.

Others include Anthony Degiovanni, who is both a member of the Heritage Malta board and also chairs the Local Examinations Board, and Dom Mintoff's daughter Yana Mintoff Bland, who will be an advisor on poverty to the minister for the family and social solidarity.

Former Labour MEP candidate Maria Camilleri chairs the Family Commission, which includes Albert Gauci Cunningham - who featured on Labour's billboards during the election campaign.

Joe Cordina, a financial controller for the party who withdrew his candidature in the middle of the campaign, was made chairman of the Gozo Channel. He was joined by former Labour MEP candidate Christian Zammit as deputy chairman.

Former MPs and councillors

Former MPs were also given positions: Charles Mangion is the chairman of energy corporation Enemalta, Gavin Gulia is the chairman of the Malta Tourism Authority, and Anthony Zammit is a member of the Heritage Malta board.

Ta' Xbiex mayor Antoinette Vassallo - wife of former Labour MP Adrian Vassallo - was appointed chair of the Housing Authority. Architect Alex Buontempo, brother of Parliamentary Secretary for Youth and Sports Stefan Buontempo, was also appointed to the Housing Authority's board, as was Labour candidate Ivan Grixti, who is interested in a bid for the European Parliament.

Labour local councillors have also been given placements: Sliema councillor Nicolai Gauci is on the board of the Malta Sports Council, while Marsaxlokk mayor Edric Micallef serves on the Wasteserv board of directors.

Former Labour MP and retired judge Philip Sciberras will serve the government on the commission for the holistic reform of justice, chair the Embryo Protection Authority and also form part of the new management board at the St Vincent de Paul home for the elderly.

Former Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, who celebrated Labour's victory at its celebratory rally in Floriana and then at Castille, was retained as chairman of the Malta Council for Science and Technology, while former Nationalist MP Franco Debono was appointed coordinator of the convention for constitutional reform and also commissioner of laws.

Party and business

Other party supporters who lent their faces to the Labour campaign or endorsed Labour's message by participating in election events were also given public appointments.

At Enemalta, former chairman Joe Ellul Vincenti was made deputy chairman. During the electoral campaign he justified Labour's energy plan to convert to gas. Lara Boffa, granddaughter of former Labour prime minister Pawlu Boffa, who also endorsed Labour at its manifesto rally, was appointed a member of the board.

Stockbroker Paul Bonello, who addressed a Labour rally, has been rumoured to expect a nomination as chairman of Malita Investments plc, though no company announcement has yet been issued.

Carmen Pullicino Orlando, wife of former Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, was appointed to the board of Transport Malta, which also includes former party volunteers Alison Zerafa Civelli and Paul Muscat.

General Workers Union financial controller Robert Borg was appointed to the Water Services Corporation.

Renee Laiviera, historically active in the Labour Party, was appointed to the Local Examinations Board and made deputy chairman of the Domestic Violence Commission, which is now chaired by lawyer Yana Micallef Stafrace, daughter of former Labour minister Joe Micallef Stafrace.

Phelim Cavlan, who assisted Labour's IT efforts during the election campaign after serving as business development manager at Allied Newspapers, were appointed to the Malta Communications Authority.

Raymond Fenech of the Tumas Group was appointed chairman of Air Malta, having served the Nationalist government as chairman of the Foundation for Tomorrow's Schools. He is joined at Air Malta by entrepreneur Joe Gasan.

Joe Cassar White, former Malta Drydocks chairman and advisor to former Labour PM Alfred Sant, was appointed chairman of the Bank of Valletta.

Members of the business community appointed to boards include Ta' Cenc hotelier Victor Borg and George Said, the son of former Heritage Malta chairman Joe Said, on the Gozo Channel board. Kevin Decesare is on the Water Services Corporation, and Tony Meilaq and Saviour Zammit of Liquid Studios serve as chairman and deputy chairman, respectively, of the Water Services Corporation.

MHRA president Tony Zahra was appointed chairman of Malta Industrial Parks, where former One TV chairman Michael Vella Haber was also made director. Marlene Seychell, owner of a clothing franchise who was dubbed by Labour media during the campaign as a 'PN switcher', was also appointed to the board of Malta Enterprise.

Arts and media

Prominent One TV presenter and Labour supporter Jackie Mercieca was appointed a member of the Malta Council for Culture and the Arts together with Frederick Testa, who lent his face to the taghna lkoll video. Testa is also the head of drama at Public Broadcasting Services. Film director Mario Philip Azzopardi, who was behind most of the Labour campaign featurettes, was appointed a member on the Manoel Theatre board.

Psychologist Peter Muscat, often invited to programmes on One TV, was appointed as a member of the Heritage Malta board. Even William Mangion, sometime Eurovision hopeful, was given a 'job' finding space for music bands to rehearse - a gift, ostensibly, for having switched from doing the PN's electoral music video in 2008 to doing Labour's Taghna lkoll jam in 2013.

The former chairman of PBS, Albert Marshall, was installed as deputy chairman of the PBS board and, more crucially, appointed chairman of the Arts Council.

PBS itself has a former editor of the Labour organ Kullhadd, Felix Agius, as a member of its editorial board, together with Martin Fenech - the latter a former PN candidate.

Another former PN candidate and party official, Frank Portelli, was appointed to the board of directors of PBS.