Labour Party pollster is now a stamp design specialist too

Labour Party pollster Vince Marmara has been given another government position after being nominated to serve as a stamp design expert for the coming two years.

Marmara is a University of Malta employee and businessman who has been conducting the Labour Party’s polls over the last few years, during which time he has also been awarded dozens of government direct orders worth over €1 million.

He joins Pascal Demajo, a dentist and art lover who has been named chairman of the Stamp Design Advisory Board, and other appointees including Labour Party activists who appear to have little to no proficiency in the field of philately.

According to law, the minister responsible for the postal service has the final say on a stamp’s final design and holds veto power to block any design even though stamps are usually issued by MaltaPost, which is a private company these days.

The Postal Services Act envisages that those chosen by the minister for the Stamp Design Advisory Board should have a sound knowledge of design.

While some of those on the advisory board – such as Demajo, artist Kenneth Zammit Tabona and designer Greta Apap Bologna have backgrounds qualifying them to serve as experts, others, such as Marmara are political appointees.

These include Clint Bajada, a disk jockey and head of Labour’s ONE Radio and Owen Galea, a former ONE reporter who moved to PBS soon after Labour was returned to power in 2013.

The remuneration for members of this particular board is not known.

While the law states that, apart from the chairman, the board can function with just four other members, the government has given out a total of nine positions around the boardroom table despite the majority’s lack of experience or acumen.