Norman Vella: political overtones of the overnight TV sensation

The former PBS presenter Norman Vella claims the decision by the Office of the Prime Minister to revoke his deployment at the national broadcaster was a "political" one.

And going by information received at MaltaToday this week, the TVHEMM presenter may be right, because the civil servant's five-year stint at production house Where's Everybody? was granted exclusively by the head of the civil service; and a subsequent secondment to PBS that was approved by the Nationalist prime minister in 2012. A political decision, if there ever was one?

Vella - a futsal referee who worked at the immigration department - was catapulted into the world of broadcasting through the popular prime-time chat show Xarabank. But with his daily foray presenting TVHEMM in 2012, he opened himself up to accusations of displaying a strong political bias and employing a simplistic line of questioning which annoyed some audiences.

"In this line of work, it is inevitable that there will be people who like you and others who don't," Vella told MaltaToday in his answers to the questions he wanted sent by email.

But while Vella claims his ousting from PBS is "political," some might say that the former Nationalist government's lax application of the public service rules for Vella was equally political.

According to information seen by this newspaper, Vella was granted an additional two years beyond the maximum three-year unpaid leave by the then head of the civil service "personally". Personally: because there was no policy governing any unpaid leave for civil servants beyond three years.

Godwin Grima gave Vella an additional two years of unpaid leave since the public service management code had not been updated.

When Vella was informed that his five-year unpaid leave had been exhausted, it was PBS chief executive Anton Attard who asked that Vella be seconded to the national broadcaster, for which approval came directly from the Office of the Prime Minister.

Vella, who hosted the popular daily show TVHEMM, received an email from the OPM this week saying he was to report to the Department of Immigration, where he was previously employed, as from next Monday, "on grounds of public policy."

"I received no reason which explained this decision. The email came from the OPM, and as far as I know, the OPM takes political decisions!" Vella said in his email answers.

Vella, who added that he felt touched by the "enormous solidarity received from people of all political colours," claims he had been forewarned that the home affairs ministry - now responsible for PBS - had asked the OPM to take this decision.

Vella worked as a journalist for the Union Press in the past: his father, Karmenu Vella, was unceremoniously booted out of the General Workers Union, perhaps catalysing his son's own antipathy towards the union press.

At Where's Everybody? he later became a member of the team behind the creation and production of the Bijografiji series, receiving a number of TV awards but not the admiration enjoyed by other journalists who shun the TV limelight.

His one-year unpaid leave to join Where's Everybody? was approved in May 2007 and subsequently renewed in June 2008 and August 2009. In May 2010, Vella wrote to the principal permanent secretary, "to explore further possibilities to continue working in the private sector" while retaining his position in the public service.

The request was discussed in a meeting between PPS Godwin Grima and the head of the Management Personnel Office, where the director of employee relations recommended that Vella's approval be extended beyond three years "on account of the experience he is gaining, which will be beneficial to the public service."

However, since the public service management code had to be updated for the maximum three-year unpaid leave to be extended, Vella was granted his extension on a personal recommendation from civil service head Godwin Grima in June 2010.

Another extension for his fifth year came in July 2011.

The policy was eventually updated on 18 May 2012 to allow all civil servants up to five years' unpaid leave to try alternative employment.

In August 2012, the Commissioner of Police informed Vella that his entitlement for unpaid leave had been exhausted.

It was at this stage that the Public Broadcasting Services' chief executive asked that Vella be seconded to the PBS, for which approval was then granted by the Office of the Prime Minister in September 2012.