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James Debono
Long-standing GRTU director general, Vince Farrugia has threatened to “auto-suspend” himself from the post unless the organisation’s council agrees to a proposal he submitted so that the seven most voted members elected to the council would be chosen to occupy the GRTU’s official posts.
Farrugia’s declaration comes in the aftermath of an attempt to cleanse the Malta Chamber of SMEs (GRTU) of government critics by electing those officials who are more sympathetic to government.
“The council is now divided with nine on one side and seven on the other. It is impossible to work as a team in these circumstances,” Farrugia told MaltaToday.
He expressed his disappointment that in this year's election for the GRTU's officers unlike in previous years, the council has not voted for the seven council members who got the most votes amongst members.
Farrugia has referred the matter to newly-elected GRTU President Paul Abela. “The president has informed me that he will be referring the matter to the council,” Farrugia told MaltaToday. But the director general has reserved the right to auto-suspend himself from his position if the council does not agree with the proposal.
The attempt to ‘purge’ elected members unsympathetic to government has produced its first casualty: Hubert Agius, one of the union’s six newly-elected vice-presidents and leader of the powerful auto dealers and petrol pump owners, has resigned.
He was the fourth most voted member to the GRTU executive council in the elections held last week.
Agius wrote to GRTU president Paul Abela expressing disappointment that certain members elected to the executive council had not been elected as officials by the same council members. “It is common knowledge that there was a strategy to make sure that these valid persons are not elected as officials,” Agius wrote in his letter.
Agius said some of the new GRTU officials do not enjoy popularity among members.
Contacted by MaltaToday, Agius said the final straw leading to his resignation was the election of a person who had betrayed GRTU members in the south by voting for the relocation of fish farms to Marsascala in his role as representative of the commercial sector on the MEPA board.
Agius was referring to the election of Joe Tabone, the target of a strong letter sent to the GRTU president by council member Rueben Buttigieg, who is the president of the association of Marsascala shop owners.
Buttigieg is calling for the resignation of Joe Tabone, a newly-elected vice-president for GRTU.
Block vote
The GRTU elections had been marked by a block vote which was sent via SMS, exhorting members to vote for a list to exclude GRTU officials known for not towing the government line.
The block vote failed to dent the massive support of incumbents like Philip Fenech, the official responsible for the leisure sector, who despite being excluded from the block vote ended up with the greatest number of votes.
Others not included in the block vote were Hubert Agius, and Marcelle Mizzi, who was also amongst the top four most voted.
The lines were however drawn again in the election of GRTU officials by those elected to the executive council. Controversial figures like Joe Tabone, who was among the least voted in the elections of the council, and who defied the GRTU stand against the relocation of fish farms, were elected to vice-president status.
Others like Marcelle Mizzi and Reuben Buttigieg did not make it to the top posts.
In his letter of resignation, Agius expressed his concern that some of the new GRTU officials did not have the necessary knowledge to serve in their respective positions. He warned this would impinge on the work of director general Vince Farrugia, whom he lauded for his untiring work.
Reuben Buttigieg wrote to the council saying Tabone does not enjoy the trust of small businesses after voting against their interests. He accused him of having a conflict of interest by voting in favour of a project opposed by the GRTU.
He asked the president and the GRTU council to remove Tabone from his post citing the GRTU statute which lays down that it is the council’s duty to expel or suspend each member found guilty of unethical behaviour or which is damaging to the association.
The GRTU director general Vince Farrugia continues to enjoy the trust of the dissenters. Agius told MaltaToday he had joined the GRTU thanks to Farrugia’s vision and enthusiasm who had transformed the organisation “from a union of Valletta shops into a respected and politically powerful organisation recognised at European level and which makes other organisations jealous of its success.”
Philip Fenech, the GRTU’s president for policy and strategy, expressed his regret at Agius’s resignation, saying he enjoyed the trust of members who voted him to the council, and those who voted for him as vice-president. “Aguis’s resignation and the reasons motivating it should be discussed in detail before they are accepted,” Fenech told MaltaToday.
Fenech said he was aware of the bad feeling amongst businessmen in the south after the election of Joe Tabone: “These are serious issues which warrant a serious analysis with the aim of finding a solution.”
Fenech said that the SMS block vote organised on the eve of the GRTU elections had managed to increase the vote of those included in the list. In the elections for the GRTU posts, Fenech said the positions were contested in a “divisive approach”.
jdebono@mediatoday.com.mt
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