Cutajar became ‘consultant’ same day he left police commissioner role

Former Police Commissioner Lawrence Cutajar signed a €31,000 part time consultancy contract with the Home Affairs Ministry on the same day that Prime Minister Robert Abela announced his resignation.

Cutajar did not miss a day on the government payroll, shifting from disgraced police commissioner to a better package than he left behind, for a part time job ‘consulting’ the Home Affairs Ministry. Cutajar’s term as police commissioner is known for his lack of action on government scandals and the assassination of a journalist.

A full copy of Cutajar’s contract was tabled in parliament in reply to a question by Nationalist MP Karol Aquilina who asked to see all the contracts signed with the Home Affairs Ministry since January.

Disgraced former Commissioner of @MaltaPolice Lawrence Cutajar is raking in €30k+ as consultant to @MaltaGov @byroncamilleri. Standard procedure by @JosephMuscat_JM & @RobertAbela_MT to keep accomplices in the fold. @TheTimesofMalta @IndependentMlt @maltatoday @TheShiftNews pic.twitter.com/YFGgaxKc32

— Karol Aquilina (@KarolAquilina) May 13, 2020

Cutajar’s contract was signed on 17 January 2020 – the same day that Abela announced the former police commissioner’s resignation in a press conference.

The contract tabled in parliament shows that Cutajar is set to receive €31,040 annually, paid in 13 four-weekly payments. The package includes an ‘expertise’ allowance of €9,000, although it remains unclear what area of expertise Cutajar possesses. He is paid €800 per year as a communications allowance. His package also includes a fully paid car for a part time job requiring 20-hours a week.

A police commissioner earns €37,946 as full time salary (scale 2), according to the latest call.

The details of Cutajar’s contract emerge at a time when the Public Service Commission is set to review the applications for the new police commissioner after the prime minister promised a change in the way they were appointed. The new system of appointments has been widely criticised for failing to address the core issue – the power in the hands of the prime minister.

Cutajar’s new appointment, on the same day he was removed, is one in a list of resignations that followed Robert Abela’s appointment. Yet the hope that real change would occur were quickly dashed as others close to former Prime Minister Joseph Muscat were compensated with more lucrative roles.