Update 3 | Government stands by new BA head as PN flags 'conflict of interest'

Publicist George Mifsud has been appointed as the new chairperson of the Broadcasting Authority, raising the objections of the Nationalist opposition.

Mifsud, who founded one of Malta’s oldest advertising agencies in 1975, was appointed by the President of the Republic on advice of the Prime Minister. According to a statement by the Office of the Prime Minister, the appointment was carried out in consultation with the leader of the Opposition.

During the consultation process, Opposition leader Simon Busuttil however suggested the appointment of either Ombdusman Anthony Tabone or Chief Justice Emeritus Joe Said Pullicino. Tabone has already served as BA chairman in the past, under both the PN and Labour administrations.

The Nationalist Party said it was objecting to Mifsud’s appointment, on grounds of “conflict of interest”.

The PN’s media spokesperson, Clyde Puli, said that Mifsud had direct commercial interest with the national station and thus he can never be in a position to regulate a company with whom he has a commercial relation.

Mifsud founded MPS, a marketing and communications company, in 1975. In 2011 he became non-executive chairman of the company. As an advertising agency, Mifsud’s company is directly involved in media buying on behalf of corporate clients.

In a letter which Opposition leader Simon Busuttil sent to Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, the opposition argued that Mifsud cannot conduct business with PBS in the morning and then decide complaints filed against PBS in the afternoon.

“This would be a bigger conflict of interest than the one which led to the resignation of Borg Cardona,” the PN said, referring to the consultancy job she was given with the government during Malta’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The Opposition argued that the Prime Minister ignored Mifsud’s conflicts of interest and chose to appoint an individual to a Constitutional post without bipartisan consent.

The PN reiterated that persons who hold important posts should always enjoy parliament’s support, with a two-thirds majority.

The government rubbished the Opposition’s objections as “baseless”, adding that the Prime Minister was “flexible” during the consultation process but Busuttil would not budge.

The Office of the Prime Minister argued that Mifsud’s role in his marketing company was not an executive position. It also accused Busuttil of “double standards”, pointing out that the PN’s nominee who serves on the authority’s board – Chris Scicluna – also works in the public relations industry and holds executive roles.

The government also said that one of the PN’s nominees, Anthony Tabone, had served as chairman of the board since 2011 and was retained until December 2015 by the Labour administration.

“Tabone, carried out his duties in a respectable manner whilst holding the post, also held a main role in a company that held commercial relations as one of the main clients of PBS,” the government said.

“The objections simply expose the double standards of an opposition that objects to everything and wants to find faults in everything and everyone.”

Mifsud was ambassador to Bulgaria between 2007 and 2013 and also served on the board of directors of the Gozo Channel between 1999 and 2004.

He was appointed to the BA post following Borg Cardona’s departure, who was forced to resign as a result of workers’ protests.