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John Mary Briffa
Zabbar
Dr Anna Mallia’s piece in the MaltaToday of 29 February, 2004 hastened me to look into the verses of the Constitution.
Writing about a case decided by the Constitutionally appointed Employment Commission, Dr Mallia stated that Mr Michael Mallia, the Employment Commission’s Chairman was unconstitutionally appointed because he is also Chairman of Public Broadcasting Services Ltd.
Dr Mallia claimed that Mr Mallia being a Chairman of PBS, a Public Authority could not have been a Public Authority could not have been appointed because Article 120 (3) of the Constitution barred Mr Mallia from occupying the post of Chairman of the Employment Commission.
This article of our Constitution states “A person shall not be qualified to hold office as a member of the Employment Commission if he is a Minister, Parliamentary Secretary, a member of, or a candidate for election to the House of Representatives, a member of a Local government authority or if he is a Public Officer.”
In my humble opinion Mr Michael Mallia does not occupy any of these posts. Dr Mallia cited a part of this article of the Constitution, which states “a member of a Local Government Authority.” This clearly refers to our Local Councils not a Public Authority.
Dr Mallia should pay more attention before firing her gun against a man of integrity as Mr Michael Mallia.
Note: Mr Briffa has a right to his interpretation of the law. A man of integrity usually informs the parties that there may be a conflict of interest because the person before him is also a member of a Board of which he is also the chairman. A man of integrity does not allow a decision to be overturned overnight for reasons which are till today still a mystery.
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