In a statement made by the National Book Council about Walid Nabhan’s exit from Malta, the Council stated that Walid Nabhan’s contract was irregular and against procurement regulations. This is false and untrue.
I am not going to explain to my successor (an incompetent imbecile, appointed as a cruel joke by the OPM) how his job should be done, because that is not my business but clearly, he is lying and doesn’t have the minimum idea of how to do his job.
Walid Nabhan was contracted to do translation work by the National Book Council which both I as Executive Chairman, the board, and the Council had the legal capacity to do. All these contracts were approved by the board, although the executive chairman has legal discretion and the final say over employment.
The government doesn’t necessarily have to employ people by the civil service and employing them via contracts saves money in the long-term. The contract rates were also relatively low compared to the civil-service positions. In fact, most of the Council’s employees were first employed by contracts before being onboarded by the civil service and this procedure was taken for various reasons, such as that civil-service positions took years to come out and work needed to be done immediately. In a cultural entity, executives also have the right to contract artists and people with certain skills and reach without going through a procurement process – there are also financial regulations and legal notices about this stuff, but again, I am not going to teach my successor how to do his job.
Walid Nabhan’s skills and positions in the market were and still are unique so he was a great asset to the Council. He was also earmarked for a permanent position with a civil-service position because I wanted to continue producing translation exports on an industrial scale, and in fact, the civil-service position was accepted by the directorate and the OPM and was available a year following my departure. My successor simply chose to fill these positions with more administrative staff instead of employing Walid Nabhan in a permanent position. Ironically, despite increasing administrative staff, the progress on many major projects has stalled and the Book Council is less active than it ever was under my leadership.
First of all, let’s make this very clear. Walid Nabhan does not have the government’s favour because Walid Nabhan is a secular Muslim and the Labour Party has allied itself with the conservative Muslim group of Bader Zeina of the Malta Muslim Council. With Walid Nabhan out of the way, the Muslim Council is happier because Walid does not get to call out the problems and the crimes of some Muslims in Malta. He’s one less problem to deal with for those in power. This is for a broad political context.
On a national and cultural level, Walid Nabhan is a deeply-valuable asset for Malta as a literary translator, and also as an author. Any sane and good-willing chair of the National Book Council would never release that kind of stupid statement to the press, but would instead make sure to keep the author employed and in the country. I will make sure to invite him back again in the future.
The reality is very different from what the current head of the Book Council is trying to project. The National Book Council was taken over by a political appointee whose success by his superiors is measured by to what extent my influence and activity is diminished in the market and book industry. The National Book Council deliberately helps my competitors with discretionary funds while I have to struggle against unfair competition. Last year, when Walid and I were in London to promote and sell his book, the Book Council provided us with no help at all. I have nothing against my competitors who receive help from the Book Council, but evidently, the Council is wrong to act and behave in this way and I am confident I will be proved right in ongoing court cases.
The result of this kind of infantile behaviour by the Book Council is very damaging and it just shows what Labour can do out of spite and malice. It’s a tragedy for me to see my legacy being trashed in this way while watching the Book Council becoming the joke that it has become. Lately, they published a “survey” of publishers and apparently, discovered that the price of paper had gone up. It took them four years and a survey to learn that the price of paper has gone up. I can go on forever about the total idiocy by which the Council is being led.
I still feel a great responsibility for my country while the government destroys the book industry out of malice and spite. This is why I still engage in cultural activities and productions that are not profitable. What the Labour government will wreck, I will rebuild myself and I promise that Walid Nabhan will return.
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Historian and Publisher
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