Claim: Discussions over a new Chief Justice had been ongoing for ‘a long time’ before the government announced its nominee.
Verdict: Talks between the government and the opposition began in mid-January, with the government naming its choice a fortnight later.
The ongoing stalemate in the appointment of Malta’s new chief justice emerged as the key point of debate during an episode of popular online talk show Il-Każin on Wednesday March 4.
During the show, government MP Ramona Attard and opposition MP Darren Carabott clashed over when talks between the two sides on potential candidates first began.
Replying to a question from the audience, Attard claimed that discussions had started long before the name of judge Consuelo Scerri Herrera, the government’s first choice for the role, emerged in late January.
“Let’s not forget that the discussion process had been underway for a long time,” she told an audience member during one segment of the programme.
Carabott, on the other hand, argued that talks had only just started shortly before parliament took a vote on Scerri Herrera’s nomination in early February.
“The discussions had not been underway for a long time,” Carabott argued. “On January 11 the opposition leader publicly said there were no discussions”.
A series of public declarations throughout the previous weeks help set out a timeline of events.
In late December, during the typically quiet week between Christmas and the new year, several government and opposition sources told Times of Malta that talks between the government and opposition were yet to begin, five weeks ahead of incumbent Mark Chetcuti’s mandatory retirement date in early February.
Opposition leader Alex Borg doubled down on this a fortnight later.
In a Facebook reel posted on January 11, Borg said he had yet to be summoned by Robert Abela to discuss Chetcuti’s potential successor. This is the post referred to by Carabott during the programme.
Borg’s Facebook reel seems to have kicked things off, with the Abela and Borg holding informal talks the following day, during which Consuelo Scerri Herrera’s name was allegedly first mentioned. This emerged in an exchange of public letters between the two party leaders published later in the month.
By the following week, talks were seemingly in full flow, with Justice Minister Jonathan Attard on January 19 saying discussions were ongoing between himself and opposition shadow minister Joe Giglio, as well as between the prime minister and opposition leader.
Scerri Herrera’s name was first made public on January 28, with Attard confirming that she was the government’s nominee for the role.
Verdict
Discussions between the government and the opposition began in mid-January, shortly after opposition leader Alex Borg expressed his concern that there were no discussions underway.
By the following week, discussions between the two party leaders, as well as the justice minister and opposition counterpart were underway.
The government publicly announced its preferred nominee almost ten days later.
Chief Justice Mark Chetcuti (centre) was set to retire in early February. File photo: Chris Sant Fournier
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Originally published here.
