Open letter calls for Saliba’s resignation over ‘illegal’ government post

A Maltese linguist working at the European Commission has publicly asked Norma Saliba to make the right decision and resign from her post if she wants to avoid humiliation in court over her appointment by Culture Minister Owen Bonnici.

The letter comes after details of her new contract, earning her some €73,000 a year for a post she is not qualified for as Executive Head of the Centre for the Maltese Language was made public by The Shift.

“Although you may have the government’s approval through its illegal appointment and that of the opposition through its condemnable silence, the ‘Centre’ you are leading is illegal for various reasons. Do you really want to act and be paid in a state of illegality?” Mark Amaira, who works at the Directorate-General for Translation at the European Commission, asked Saliba.

Making it clear that he was speaking in the name of many, including individual members sitting on the Maltese Language Council, “who for obvious reasons cannot speak”, he told Saliba that everyone knew that she did not have the necessary qualifications for the role she was given and that she is going to be challenged in court.

“If you really love the Maltese language, and I am sure you do, you know that you don’t have the experience, knowledge and qualifications to lead such a Centre,” he wrote.

Appealing to Saliba to “do the right thing” and “avoid embarrassment”, he called upon her to resign from the position she was given in the interests of the Maltese language.

Saliba was appointed on the initiative of Bonnici soon after she was forced to resign as PBS Head of News following a long-drawn fallout with Mark Sammut – the state broadcaster’s Executive Chairman.

Rushing to give Saliba an alternative, well-paid, taxpayer-funded job, Bonnici quickly published a new legal notice, establishing a so-called ‘Centre for the Maltese Language’ and appointing Saliba as its Executive Head.

While the Centre is to act as the executive arm of the established Maltese Language Council, the latter claimed that it was not consulted by the Minister and that all was done to accommodate Saliba and her new role.

Calling upon the Minister to withdraw Saliba’s appointment, the Council said it would have no other option but to challenge Bonnici’s actions in court. Yet no action has been taken so far.

According to the law establishing the Maltese Language Council, the Minister is legally bound to consult the Council before making decisions, something the Council says did not happen.

The Shift also revealed an unusual clause in her contract, meaning that if Saliba is axed from her new role, she will return to the payroll at TVM.

Saliba has been given a better deal than she had at TVM- some €73,000 in taxpayer-funded salary and perks in her new position as head of a Centre that only employs her.