|
 |
|
Karl Stagno-Navarra
Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi is set to appoint Sonny Portelli as the new Chairman to the Malta Council for Economic and Social Development (MCESD) in the wake of Joseph FX Zahra’s reluctance to accept Castille’s invitation to chair the MCESD given his very busy schedule as Chairman of the National Euro Change-Over Committee (NECC) and other national committees.
Current Maltacom plc Chairman Sonny Portelli’s nomination comes as no news to the constituted bodies who have apparently touted his name during consultations with the Prime Minister last week.
Contacted yesterday, Sonny Portelli preferred not to comment with this paper, explaining that “the issue is one for the Prime Minister to speak about.”
Unions, industry and employers organisations are reported to have met individually yesterday with Sonny Portelli and expressed a general consensus to his incumbent appointment.
His role as MCESD Chairman is not expected to be easy, given that the Council is still in a stalemate over the structural changes to the MCESD’s workings It is interesting to note that Portelli seems to follow in Zahra’s footsteps with regard to top-level appointments. He was appointed to head the then state owned telecommunications company in the wake of Zahra’s abrupt resignation from that post after just six months. With Zahra now turning down the MCESD chairmanship, it was again Portelli who came to the government’s rescue.
Joseph FX Zahra recently moderated a noisy informal meeting between the social partners that discussed a report with a list of proposed changes, however the meeting ended in a deadlock over what role should government play within MCESD
The meeting was called to specifically discuss reactions by the social partners to the contents of the Zahra report that was prepared last June.
The report suggested “ideas” of how MCESD could work better particularly in the decision making process, following the failure to reach a Social Pact in November 2005.
Both employers and trade unions ended the meeting in deadlock after three whole hours of discussion produced a non-agreement to a General Workers Union proposal that insists government should not participate within the MCESD.
One source explained that the meeting was intended to go through various points taken from the Zahra report, however while consensus seems to have been reached through position papers already made public by most of the partners on other matters, particularly those related to the decision making process where a majority voting system is being recommended, “almost three whole hours were taken over by a stalemate produced by the GWU position.” |
