Limited talent gave Fenech Adami ‘successful cabinets’ – Jesmond Mugliett

At least one Nationalist MP has expressed surprised at the conversation between the Prime Minister and former US ambassador Molly Bordonaro, in which Lawrence Gonzi is said to have “lamented quite bluntly” to her that the elected Nationalist Party MPs offered a “limited talent pool from which to select ministers that are matched well with their competencies and are able to form an efficient working government.”

Former transport minister Jesmond Mugliett said he was surprised Gonzi had entered into such a conversation with an ambassador of another country or gave the opportunity to the ambassador to express her opinion on the choice of ministers.

The conversation was reported in a leaked US embassy cable on Wikileaks.

“All I can say is that most of the group was elected under Eddie Fenech Adami and he managed to form very successful Cabinets with those parliamentarians,” Mugliett said, referring to the ‘limited talent’ comment.

“Such choices are sovereign matters. Disparaging remarks about the competences of Maltese ministers from a foreign ambassador are disrespectful of the choices the Maltese and the Prime Minister would have made,” Mugliett told MaltaToday.

“Moreover ministers should not aim to please through their work any other state, whatever the democratic credentials it may have.”

Gonzi yesterday claimed the media had spun the comments leaked in the cable, issuing a statement to “deplore” the reports.

While not denying the comments to Bordonaro, Gonzi said it was clear he was “not in any way discussing individuals but explaining Malta’s Constitutional provisions on the appointment of Ministers. 

“Contrary to the United States where the President can nominate any citizen to such a post, the Prime Minister in Malta can only appoint Ministers from among Members of Parliament. Thus in the Maltese system, although certain persons may be very competent to serve as ministers, they cannot be appointed.”

According to Bordonaro’s cable, Gonzi “wished it was possible to draw ministers from business or academia, something that is not possible in Malta.

The meeting took place prior to the 2008 general election and not after the election.

MaltaToday also asked Joe Saliba, the former PN secretary-general, for a comment about his involvement in the PN’s vetting process. “You’re wasting your time,” he replied, dismissing the question. “When I have something to say, I’ll call you myself.”

Another Nationalist MP elected on two districts, who was not given a ministerial position, was tourism entrepreneur Robert Arrigo. But he was tight-lipped about the significance of Gonzi’s statements: “You’d have to ask him about them,” Arrigo said.

Bordonaro’s observations are detailed in new embassy cables leaked on Wikileaks, detailing the new Cabinet that took shape following Gonzi’s re-election in 2008.

Borg’s appointment as foreign minister was “welcome news” since Borg worked closely with the embassy as justice and home affairs minister on Malta’s entry into the visa waiver programme, the refugee resettlment program and the implementation of the PISCES system that collects data on who enters and exits Malta.