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MT 31 July 2016

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maltatoday, SUNDAY, 31 JULY 2016 4 News PROFILE JOHN BUNDY Will he march for the 'puppeteers' he sang about? MIRIAM DALLI THE man once heavily associated with the Nationalist Party is now preparing to take over at the Public Broadcasting Services as Chief Executive Officer, under a Labour ad- ministration. Attempts to contact John Bundy by phone proved futile but informed sources confirmed with MaltaToday that the household name will become the new PBS chief as of next week, succeeding Anton Attard. In a revealing interview with newspaper Il- lum in February, Bundy had refused to say whether he had any interest in heading PBS, insisting that he did not have such specific wishes. However, he did hint that he would up to the job: "Everyone knows what experience I have; everyone knows what I do in broadcasting and everyone knows that there are no half-baked measures with me." Bundy was however a critical voice of the state of public broadcasting, when he said in the same interview that PBS should be renamed to "State Broadcasting Services be- cause that is what it is… Despite the change in administration, nothing has changed. PBS's policy should be one of educating, giving more opportunities and creating a balance that reaches everyone. Is PBS fulfilling this mission?" Whether his own leadership will be free of the state's tentacles, will be something yet to be seen. Bundy had admitted to having considered the position of CEO at PBS after the elections. "It's true, I did consider the position of CEO but it's difficult for this to happen with PBS in the clutches of Silvio Scerri." Before the 2014 Cabinet reshuffle, the Public Broadcasting Services fell under the responsi- bility of Minister Manuel Mallia, who at the time had Silvio Scerri as his chief of staff. It was no secret that the two men did not see eye to eye: during the fracas that ensued after broadcaster Norman Vella was recalled to his job in the civil service, Scerri sued Bundy for defamation when the latter was said to have told Vella his removal from PBS had been on Scerri's command. The incumbent CEO, Anton Attard, an events impresario famed for his technical know-how, will leave PBS after six years at the helm, having been given the post in 2010. The former Nationalist strategist, campaigner and head of programming at NET TV is also a director at NNG Promotions, organisers of the annual Joseph Calleja summer concert, amongst several others. Attard is known in the industry for his ex- pertise in audiovisual and digital media and was responsible for Malta's Junior Eurovision Song Contest victories in 2013 and 2015. But his Nationalist pedigree earned him the usual crop of Labour critics, the most vocif- erous being Jason Micallef, executive chair- man of One TV, who blamed him for Malta's "abysmal" showing during last year's Eurovi- sion semi-final. Many a times, Micallef would take to Facebook criticising Attard and calling for his resignation. Bundy has had stints at all of Malta's televi- sion stations, in a career that has spanned 25 years. He started his broadcasting career as a radio host in 1986 on Radju Malta, before moving to the PN's Radio 101 – at the time known as 'Project Radio'. Radio 101 was launched in 1991. Bundy considered it his "baby" – his was the first voice to air on Radio 101. He has hosted TV programmes, daytime and breakfast shows on TVM, One TV and Smash TV. Between 2002 and 2008, he pre- sented shows on TVM, including Hawn Ahna, Bongu, Mill-Ghatba 'l Gewwa and Ta' Bundy. In 2009 he switched to the Labour Party's One TV, where he presented Bongu Bundy and current affairs programme Affari Tagh- na. Bundy had also revealed in an interview that then Opposition leader Joseph Muscat had contacted him by email, when the latter fell out with the PN. That hand of friendship landed Bundy his breakfast show on One TV. Bundy's sudden switch to the Labour media surprised many, not least because he was con- sidered as the "entertainment arm of the PN". Every mass meeting would have seen Bundy as master of ceremonies, firing up the Nation- alist supporters before Eddie Fenech Adami's address; he organised fund-raisers and was highly prized for his role as an 'energiser' of the PN crowds. As a radio deejay, he also became a Guin- ness World record breaker for singlehandedly transmitting live on radio for 51 hours non- stop. But to many, perhaps his biggest claim for recognition would be that of having the voice that sang one of Malta's most known pop songs: the 1995 hit Pajjiz tal-Mickey Mouse (A Mickey Mouse country), with which he won the Ghanja tal-Poplu festival. Written and composed by the late Martin Attard, the song pokes fun at the Maltese with the popu- lar lyric "we lived and we still live in a Mickey Mouse country, where those on top pull the string, and we puppets march to their tune" ("konna u ghadna nghixu f'pajjiz tal-Mickey Mouse, fejn ta' fuq jigbdu l-ispaga u ahna l- pupazzi nimmarcjaw".) They will be words he will have to consider in his new role at PBS, notorious for the influ- ence of governmental actors. John Bundy: he says he does not do 'half- baked measures' and once said PBS needs to create a balance that reaches everyone Anton Attard: Technical supremo Dalli 'prosecutor' loses challenge on immunity MATTHEW VELLA THE EU's top anti-fraud offi- cial has lost a legal challege to a European Commission deci- sion to lift his immunity from prosecution in connection with a Belgian police investigation. Giovanni Kessler (pictured), director-general of the EU anti-fraud office OLAF filed a complaint in March with the General Court of the European Union saying the Commission's removal of his protection from prosecution was a threat to the agency's independence, which is guaranteed in EU law. The decision by the Commis- sion in March, after a year of wavering, was the first time im- munity had ever been lifted for an OLAF official. But the General Court of the ECJ has refused his appeal, say- ing that the Belgian police will be dealing with the accusation that Kessler listened in on a telephone conversation with- out permission on 3 July 2012 during OLAF's probe of the Dalligate lobbying scandal, in violation of Belgian law. This, it said, would not affect OLAF's independence. The Belgian investigation focuses on allegations Kessler listened in to a conversation by witness Inge Delfosse – the sec- retary-general of the European Smokeless Tobacco Council – as she contacted Silvio Zammit from a speaker-phone. Zammit is accused of solicit- ing a bribe and of trading of influence in a Maltese court, by having requested a multimil- lion bribe from snus producers Swedish Match, to influence then health commissioner John Dalli to lift an EU retail ban on the chewing tobacco. The evidence gathered from the Delfosse call was not used in OLAF's final Dalligate re- port. If proven that Kessler did listen in, he could face a prison sentence of up to two years and a fine under Belgian law. TECHNICAL ATTACHE` Applications are invited for the position of Technical Attachè in different policy areas to carry out duties at the Permanent Representation of Malta to the EU in Brussels falling within the remit of the Ministry for the European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto. Applications will be received at the Corporate Services Directorate, Ministry for European Affairs and Implementation of the Electoral Manifesto, 31B, Tal-Pilar, Marsamxett Road, Valletta, VLT 1850 by not later than noon of Friday, 12 th August 2016.Further details may be obtained from the Government Gazette of 29 th July 2016. Application forms may be downloaded from: https://opm.gov.mt/en/PAHRO/RESOURCING/Pages/Forms%20and%20Templates/Forms-and- Templates.aspx PHOTO RAY ATTARD

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