PN workers section demands Pellegrini's head after controversial Facebook post

The PN's workers section has demanded the dismissal of Ronnie Pellegrini, Chief of staff to Social Dialogue, Consumer Affairs and Civil Liberties Minister Helena Dalli, after Pellegrini posted a comment on Facebook in which he advocated preferential treatment for Labour Party supporters in the workplace.

Pellegrini, a former Lorry Sant acolyte, had reacted to a story published on inews.com reporting that workers who were PL supporters were enjoying preferential treatment at St Vincent de Paul home for the elderly. When he posted the story on Facebook, Pellegrini wrote “Hekk ghandu jkun” (That’s how it should be).

This afternoon the president of the PN's workers section, Ivan Castillo, handed in a letter addressed to Dalli at her ministry's offices in Valletta, calling for Pellegrini's removal from the position.

“This comment is not one befitting a person occupying an office within the ministry responsible for equality,” the letter reads, going on to describe that Pellegrini's position as Chief of Staff was no longer tenable.

Pellegrini's appointment to the role had been mired in controversy from the start, with the minister initially saying that he was an official at the secretariat, before his appointment as Chief of Staff was confirmed through a Freedom of Information request.

“I remind you that Mr. Pellegrini was a person of trust that you chose to fulfil the role and therefore is a person who reflects your own opinions,” reads Castillo's letter, arguing that his dismissal was the only way for the minister to disassociate herself from the comments and condemn them.

"If our demand is not met, we will have no choice but to assume that the minister who should be promoting equality and unity, is instead sowing discrimination and disunity," Castillo told reporters. "Workers should support our call for equality."

The PN workers section meets weekly with several sectors, he said. "They all say the same thing: that discrimination is alive and well."