Former Labour MP gets second appointment as chairperson of a government agency

Former Labour MP Anthony Agius Decelis was appointed chairman of another public board, his second since losing his parliamentary seat in 2022.

Energy Minister Miriam Dalli appointed the former parliamentary secretary to head the board of Automated Revenue Management Services (ARMS Ltd), the government’s billing company for water and electricity services.

Ryan Pace, the deputy chair, will accompany him on the board. Pace is Prime Minister Robert Abela’s former assistant at his private legal office and currently holds 11 government appointments, including Chair of the Malta Gaming Authority.

Ismael Psaila, a young, inexperienced lawyer who forms part of the defence team of disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat, was appointed company secretary.

Agius Decelis, 59, from Mosta, an ECG technician, is already leading another government entity. Following his failure to return to parliament, he was appointed Chair of the Grand Harbour Regeneration Corporation (GHRC). It is managed by former Labour MP Gino Cauchi.

Agius Decelis also receives a third payment as a member of the board of the Foundation for Social Welfare Services (FSWS), which former Labour education secretary and CEO Alfred Grixti manages as its CEO.

Apart from all these appointments, Agius Decelis is a full-time government employee and a Labour local councillor in Mosta.

The former parliamentary secretary, removed by Robert Abela in 2020, will replace Nadia Pace at ARMS Ltd. The former Chair is a consultant at Malta Enterprise, while her partner, Anthony David Gatt, a former Labour reporter, became chief officer at the same government agency.

ARMS Ltd’s management is a line-up of Labour Party officials. The CEO is George Azzopardi, who, until the last general elections, was the CEO of the Labour Party chosen by Prime Minister Robert Abela.

Labour Treasurer Marisa Ciappara and Nikita Zammit Alamango, the president of the PL’s women’s wing, are its two highest officials.

Ciappara was caught managing a private business from her office at ARMS in breach of her employment contract, but no action was taken against her.