Labour MP says €38,000 appointment is no conflict for him

A 27-year-old Labour MP who has been employed by Minister for the Economy Chris Cardona as his consultant sees no conflict in his role as chair of a parliamentary committee that deals with the economy and financial matters.

Newly-elected MP Silvio Schembri was appointed by Cardona on a €38,512 salary as his consultant to supervise the implementation of electoral measures falling under the responsibility of the ministry for the economy. He earns close to €63,000 together with his parliamentary honorarium.

 Schembri has claimed he was previously a similarly-appointed consultant in the ministry for rural affairs, a claim that has been disputed by none other than the former Nationalist minister George Pullicino.

Schembri says that as manager of the GAL Xlokk foundation, an NGO formed by a group of local councils, his salary was paid partly through funds from the rural development plan, through the rural affairs ministry, and through the Malta-Italy financial instrument falling under the Office of the Prime Minister.

"After the election I was asked to perform the same work, with the same pay, but on the electoral measures that fall under the responsibility of the minister for the economy."

But as pointed out by George Pullicino, Schembri was not a politically-appointed consultant of his ministry. On the other hand, Schembri was employed by the local councils that form the board of the GAL Xlokk foundation to manage EU funding. Amongst the board members are Luqa mayor John Schembri, the MP's father.

In comments to MaltaToday, Schembri played down the fact that his role as a minister's political appointee compromised his loyalty to his constituents. "Not at all. I am elected to represent my constituents and to see that the electoral promises made by the party in the electoral manifesto are implemented, because the people voted for those measures."

As chair of the parliamentary economic and financial committee, Schembri also earns an additional €5,727 honorarium apart from his MP's honorarium of €19,092. But he also says that his ministerial appointment does not put him in conflict with the role of an MP vetting the work of the ministry.

"The work of the committee is to, on its own initiative, consider from an economic and financial perspective any decision, recommendation or report published locally, by the European institutions or by international organisations, that could have an impact on the Maltese economy; request persons appointed by the government to represent it on the governing and administrative organs of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM), and request the Governor of the Central Bank of Malta to appear before the committee.

"The Central Bank, the ESM or the European Financial Stability Facility do not fall under the responsibility of the ministry of the economy - it's up to the Public Accounts Committee to vet the work of all ministries, including that of the economy," Schembri said.

Schembri's appointment is so far the only where an MP was publicly revealed in the House of Representatives.

Prime Minister Joseph Muscat intends appointing MPs on government boards, with remuneration over and above their parliamentary honoraria. Traditionally MPs, as legislators, are not appointed on executive government boards but former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi had appointed Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando as chairman of the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) on a €13,000 salary while other backbenchers were given the role of parliamentary assistants with an extra €10,000 added to their honorarium.

Nationalist MP and former minister Censu Galea was also appointed chairman of the Building Industry Consultative Council. The chairmanship is now held by Labour MP Charles Buhagiar.

Another Labour MP, Michael Falzon, chairs the Malta Environment and Planning Authority's working group on firework factories while at the same time being a lobbyist and legal representative for the Malta Pyrotechnics Association. Falzon has also been appointed commissioner against bureaucracy. Both appointments were carried out by parliamentary secretary for planning.

Gonzi's decision to appoint parliamentary assistants was a move to quell internal dissent. Despite the criticism from the Labour Party, Joseph Muscat is proposing changes to a law precluding MPs from sitting on government bodies.