The Minority in Parliament has raised alarm over recent advertisements announcing recruitment into various security services under the Ministry of the Interior.

According to the Minority, the advertisements, which seek to recruit personnel for the Police Service, Fire Service, Prisons Service, and Immigration Service, lack transparency due to ongoing legal challenges surrounding the recruitment process.

“It is important to state that the advertisement for recruitment is coming on the back of a petition the Minority submitted to the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and inter alia complained about the recruitment of personnel into the security services based on a purported backlog.

“Whilst CHRAJ is seized with the Minority’s petition, it came to us as a surprise to learn that the security services under the Ministry of the Interior, namely the Police Service, Fire Service, Prisons Service, and Immigration Service, are bent on restricting the 2024 recruitment to persons who only applied in 2021, at a time when the legality of recruiting from a purported backlog is being questioned before CHRAJ,” a press statement signed by James Agalga, the Ranking Member of the Defence and Interior Committee of Parliament, said.

The Minority explained that despite this petition being under review, the recent recruitment drive has proceeded, limiting eligibility to individuals who applied in 2021.

This move has raised suspicions within the Minority, who believe that the current government may be using this process to recruit party loyalists into the security services ahead of the upcoming elections.

James Agalga expressed the Minority's concerns, stating that the government's actions could jeopardize the peace and security of the nation.

“It is against this backdrop that we in the Minority will urge the Peace Council, our foreign partners, and Civil Society groups to speak out before it is too late.

“In conclusion, the Minority wishes to renew its call for strict adherence to a balanced structuring of all the security services, including the Armed Forces, and the creation of equal access and opportunity to all by the security services in terms of recruitment.

“The Minority is not against the recruitment of the youth of this country into the security services at all. On the contrary, our objective is to guarantee equal access and opportunity to all in terms of recruitment into the services,” the press statement added.

AM/BB

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