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maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 2 JULY 2014 News 5 JURGEN BALZAN THE Nationalist Party is in the coming months expected to appoint a CEO who would be responsible for its commercial activities, freeing the party secretary-general to focus solely on the political business. A party spokesperson told Malta- Today "the Nationalist Party is cur- rently carrying out a restructuring of the management structure of its commercial company Media.Link." However, unlike Labour, the PN has no intention of replacing its sec- retary-general with a CEO. "This restructuring process has nothing to do with the political role and functions of the secretary-gen- eral or any other political aspect or role within the party," the spokes- person stressed. Following the electoral drubbing suffered in the European elections in May, the PN has gone soft on the issues it is championing and party leader Simon Busuttil has resisted making any radical changes. However, sources have told this newspaper that in the coming weeks and months the party will be re- structuring its commercial entities in a bid to rid the party of the debts which have impacted its political aspect. The extent of the PN's financial woes surfaced after the disastrous general election result last year, and although the party has implemented several reforms to address the situ- ation, its finances remain severely straitened. Last month, PN secretary-general Chris Said told MaltaToday that the party's operations are "fully sustain- able and have been so for almost 10 months, and the party has already closed its accounts on the 2014 Eu- ropean Parliament election cam- paign." With debts standing at up to €8 million, the party's new administra- tion has had to deal with the mess inherited from former secretaries- general Joe Saliba and Paul Borg Olivier. Although Said insists that the PN's finances "are definitely in a better position than they were a year ago" the party is in the process of imple- menting a number of measures to put its house in order. Last month, MaltaToday revealed that the opposition is set to put a number of its clubs across the coun- try on the market and Said indicated that the PN was looking at maximis- ing its revenues by renting out unu- tilised space in its many clubs. Moreover, the party is looking at re-branding its media house in an attempt to gain more credibility and financial sustainability. CEO vs secretary-general The PN started toying with the idea of a CEO to put its house in order after its electoral defeat. How- ever, it has so far stalled on appoint- ing one, mainly because of the Euro- pean elections last May. But with the party getting another bloody nose in that latest electoral test, party leader Simon Busuttil has had his hand strengthened and he has gone on record saying that he will be implementing big changes in the near future. It seems however that the PN will not be going down the same road as Labour, which on Joseph Muscat's election as party leader in 2008, re- placed its secretary-general with a CEO. This move has severely weakened the roles of Labour's deputy leaders, with the CEO taking on the leading role within the party. Labour's CEO, a post previously occupied by current Transport Mal- ta chief James Piscopo and now held by former MP Gino Cauchi, is in complete control of the party's com- mercial and political aspects. However, sources within the PN have said that the party does not wish to go down the same road and intends to free up current secretary- general Chris Said from commercial responsibilities, freeing him instead to focus on his political role. Since being appointed to the post in June last year, Said has focused on ending the party's financial haemor- rhage. But with the appointment of a CEO, he would be able to channel his energy into turning the opposi- tion into an alternative government. Shadow Cabinet reshuffle In the aftermath of the European elections Busuttil was expected to announce a reshuffle in his shadow Cabinet, however he has so far re- sisted the temptation to ring the changes within his Parliamentary group. The opposition leader acknowl- edges that he needs to appear more decisive and stamp his authority on the party, and calling an end to the Sunday sermons was seen by many in the party as a step in the right di- rection. Had the PN leader announced a reshuffle immediately after the elec- tion he could have been accused of a knee-jerk reaction. However, post- poning it could also draw criticism of being sluggish in ringing out the changes in a struggling party. The decision to reshuffle a front bench dominated by former politi- cal heavyweights carrying a lot of baggage is at Busuttil's sole discre- tion, but he has so far failed to an- swer questions sent by MaltaToday. Party sources have said that a re- shuffle is on the cards and could be announced once Parliament rises for the summer recess at the end of the month. MIRIAM DALLI FORMER chairman of the fuel procurement advisory committee Joseph Falzon wants former infra- structure minister Austin Gatt to withdraw an accusation the latter made in his regard. "I never recruited any graduates to assist the committee," Falzon told the public accounts commit- tee as it continued with its hearing of the Enemalta fuel procurement report. During the electoral campaign, Gatt defended a 2005 decision to remove the chairman of the com- mittee, saying he had breached recruitment procedures when he hired two graduates. The former minister had argued that Falzon had engaged two grad- uates to assist the board but had not gone through the government's recruitment procedures stipulated at law and which also bind En- emalta. "Consequently, the recruitment was illegal," Gatt said. "It was a dif- ficult position, we had to part ways amicably." But according to Falzon, this was not the case. "It's true that I wanted two grad- uates to assist the board in order to collate data on price f luctuations and analysis. But I never engaged anyone, only made the request. I tried asking the minister [Gatt] but he had turned down my request," he said. Falzon explained how he tried meeting Gatt in 2005 at his minis- try but to no avail. A messenger at the ministry advised Falzon, then chairman of the FPAC, to go meet Gatt at the PN club in Santa Ven- era. "So I went to the club and waited in the queue. I was called in and Gatt asked me 'how can I help you?'. I told him I need two gradu- ates to help me out with the board but Gatt refused. 'Resign if you don't like it', Gatt told me," Falzon said. Turning to the Nationalist MPs, Falzon said: "I ask Gatt to with- draw his statement. I didn't recruit anyone and no I don't know why he removed me." Falzon, a professor and dean of the Faculty of Economics, Manage- ment and Accountacy was the first Head of the Department of Bank- ing and Finance at the University of Malta. In 1984 he obtained a Ph.D. in Economics from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois. He was member of the Enemalta board between 1999 and 2003 and during those years he also served as member of the fuel procurement committee. Although he had al- ways advocated the use of hedging in fuel procurement, his advise fell on deaf ears. The first time hedging took place at Enemalta was in 2005 after Falzon found the support of then Chief Financial Officer Pippo Pandolfino. Falzon was removed in 2003 by Gatt only to be brought again a couple of years later, pre- sumably by Pandolfino. In 2005 he was appointed chair- man of the fuel procurement ad- visory committee by Gatt only to have him removed a few months later. He was replaced by Roderick Chalmers who, according to Fal- zon, was against hedging as well. During his earlier years at Ene- malta, Falzon unsuccessfully tried to convince Enemalta and the min- ister to go for hedging. "I had two undergraduates with me and in nine months we made a study that showed how – with perfect foresight – Enemalta would have saved $111 million in two years," Falzon said. No political role for PN's chief executive Former oil board chairman asks Gatt to withdraw accusation Chris Said and Beppe Fenech Adami "It is true that I wanted two graduates to assist the board in order to collate data on price fluctuations and analysis. But I never engaged anyone, only made the request" – Joseph Falzon Joseph Falzon

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