A rift has opened within the Nationalist Party after MP Darren Carabott publicly clashed with party leader Alex Borg over the recent civil service collective agreement and the resulting pay adjustment affecting MPs.

Carabott argued that the increase stems directly from the Public Service collective agreement, which came into effect at the start of this year. The agreement covers around 33,000 public officers, including Members of Parliament, whose pay is tied to civil service salary scales.

In contrast, Borg rejected the adjustment, saying he refused to accept a rise granted under the public service agreement, which he described as unjustified. 

It is unclear if Borg is looking to freeze the collective agreement, or whether other Nationalist MPs are going to refund all the increases they have received of the years based on the collective agreement.

Carabott is now at odds with his own leader, arguing that such adjustments are routine. Carabott added that political salaries in Malta remain low relative to responsibility and should be addressed through an open national discussion.

“We need a serious national debate about political pay,” Carabott told journalists outside Parliament.

Borg claimed that the government had failed to consult him on the increase. 

However, it appears he misunderstood that this was not a discretionary pay rise for politicians, but an automatic adjustment triggered by the civil service collective agreement negotiated with unions and endorsed by all social partners.

The Origins of the Pay Adjustment

The collective agreement signed between the government and the public service introduces incremental salary increases across all civil service grades. Because MPs’ salaries are indexed to these scales, the adjustment applied automatically, not by government or parliamentary discretion.

The government has maintained that this was a standard adjustment, describing it as “a consequence of the collective agreement that applies equally to all positions linked to the civil service.”

Internal Tensions Within the PN

Carabott’s public rebuttal has exposed growing unease within the Nationalist Party over Borg’s leadership style and policy positions.

Several MPs have in recent months refused to follow Borg’s lead when his statements were seen as misinformed, poorly calculated, or lacking consultation. 
A number of economic proposals launched by Borg have received little internal support, with some MPs declining to publicly endorse them, arguing that the reasoning behind them simply does not hold up.