PN local councillor files judicial protest following ‘vindictive transfer’

PN local councillor Charlot Cassar has filed a judicial protest following what he described on Facebook as a vindictive transfer.

The protest reads that on 14 February 2011, he was employed as a senior manager with the Malta Transport Authority on a three-year fixed contract, renegotiated to six years in November 2012. In February 2015, his employment conditions changed to that of an indefinite contract.

Cassar mentioned that on 18 July, he was informed that an agreement had been made with the government for his service to be given in public service, and was ordered to report for work which was not in his job description. Cassar obeyed the order, under protest. Speaking with The Malta Independent, Cassar said that currently, he is working for the Fisheries Department, after having originally been sent to the Equality Ministry.

Cassar is asking the Malta Transport Authority to confirm that he is employed by them, and to confirm that all his conditions of work will be respected.

In a statement, Cassar said that there was no valid reason for his transfer, and said that the transfer was vindictive, in light of his PN candidacy in the last election. He described his situation as evidence that the national unity Prime Minister Joseph Muscat had spoken about was just a tale. “If the aim of this transfer was to silence me from criticising the government, particularly when it comes to the environment, they have failed.”

Cassar argued that the public service is there to serve all Maltese and Gozitan people, and not to be used as a tool for politically vindictive acts by the party in government.