The Chairperson of Heritage Malta, Mario Cutajar, has taken leave of absence from the national heritage agency to organise an exhibition on behalf of the governing Labour Party at its headquarters in Hamrun.
In what Heritage Malta officials described as an unprecedented act of partisanship by the head of an important national organisation, Cutajar has personally taken the initiative to organise ‘l-Ewlenin’ – a Labour Party exhibition commemorating the 105th anniversary of the movement’s establishment as a once socialist political party.
The exhibition, inaugurated by Prime Minister Robert Abela, features a sophisticated setup and design, similar to those of recent exhibitions held by Heritage Malta.
It is unclear who is financing the Labour Party exhibition, or whether Cutajar utilised any Heritage Malta resources to assist with it.
When asked by The Shift whether Heritage Malta’s resources, such as staff and suppliers, were involved in his personal initiative for the Labour Party, Cutajar did not respond.
Neither did he reply to questions about whether it was appropriate for the Chair of Malta’s national heritage agency to personally involve himself in such a partisan activity.
Email questions sent to Cutajar remained unanswered, with an auto-reply stating that he was “out of office with irregular access to the internet”.
Mario Cutajar showing the Labour Leader around the exhibition.
Cutajar is a veteran Labour militant, known for being unable to distinguish between his personal political beliefs and his official public roles.
After spending years at the General Workers Union militating against Malta’s EU membership, he returned to the civil service as a low-ranking official at Heritage Malta.
In 2013, as soon as Labour returned to power, Cutajar was appointed by disgraced former prime minister Joseph Muscat as head of the civil service – a role he retained until his retirement, soon after Robert Abela took over the Labour leadership.
A month later, in June 2022, Cutajar was appointed Chair of Heritage Malta and began receiving a monthly financial package of approximately €4,000. He was also placed on a special pension, reserved for permanent secretaries.
Later, Cutajar was also given another part-time job, serving as an adviser to Glenn Bedingfield, the Parliamentary Secretary for Cleansing.