Updated | Labour withdraw from leaders’ debate on 1 March
PN insists Labour Leader Joseph Muscat must attend second (March 1) Xarabank debate, PL dismisses issue as 'silly distraction'.
PN secretary general together with president of the executive council Marthese Portelli and president of the administrative council Karol Aquilina.
Updated at 3:47 pm.
The Labour Party has accused the PN of trying to distract the electorate from the real issues of the election, after it decided to pull out Labour leader Joseph Muscat from a 1 March debate on Xarabank, on PBS.
The Labour Party has withdrawn from a three-hour leaders' debate hosted on PBS programme Xarabank for the 1 March, claiming that its request to have the programme's two debates split into 90-minute debates each, was turned down by Xarabank's producers.
In a press conference, Nationalist Party secretary-general Paul Borg Olivier said the PL's communications director Kurt Farrugia had already confirmed the participation of leader Joseph Muscat in both Xarabank debates: tonight both leaders will meet up in a debate on the PBS primetime talk-show.
"Labour asked that the debate take place over 90 minutes, and that if the reply would be negative then it would withdraw. Xarabank said there was no need to change format. Today, Labour withdrew from the second debate - such debates are expected by voters, and such conditions or objections have never been made before. Voters should have every opportunity to hear party leaders debate.
"After Labour accepted to participate in the second debate, it demanded that it dictate the conditions under which these debates are broadcast. This shows Labour is scared of confrontation and does not want to enter into debate."
Borg Olivier said the PN wil still participate in the 1 March debate for party leaders, and a 15 February debate for deputy leaders. "The invitation for Labour stands. It was an invitation to both sides, and the PN confirms the Prime Minister's participation for the 1 March."
Quizzed by the media, Borg Olivier insisted that Labour's condition to split the two debates over three hours, rather than having two three-hour debates, was not necessary. "Voters should be informed as much as possible by having both leaders available to attend all debates possible."
In a statement, Labour said the PN had not produced a single policy proposal in two weeks. "Labour leader Joseph Muscat has committed to four debates during this campaign so far. He will continue to determine his schedule with his campaign team."
The PL delivered a parting shot inspired by the current wide-spread power outage that left most of the island without electricity. "It might have been more appropriate, at a time when 70% of the country was without power, for the governing party to be focusing on this rather than silly political games."
Earlier, a Labour spokesperson told MaltaToday that Labour had requested that since there would be two Xarabank debates, apart from the other leaders' debates hosted by the Broadcasting Authority, students' group Insite at the University of Malta, and another by The Times, the two Xarabank debates should be held over a time frame of 90 minutes each.
"Xarabank producers Where's Everybody told us they could not change the format, so we decided to attend just one of the three-hour debates," the spokesperson said.
Labour communications director Kurt Farrugia insisted Labour had not withdrawn from the Xarabank debates. "We did not withdraw from the debate. They invited us to participate in two leaders' debates, and we accepted to participate in one of them. The final days of the campaign are already heavy with multiple debates. Audiences will be able to follow political debates during the Broadcasting Authority debate, the University debate, and also a deputy leaders' debate that are scheduled for the run-up to election day. Because of this Labour requested that the total Xarabank debate time between Gonzi and Muscat be composed of two hours, stretched over two debates.
"We proposed an effective debating time of two hours on Xarabank, instead of a total of over four hours as they proposed," Farrugia said. He said that Labour's proposal was made during a meeting on Wednesday.
He said that on Thursday, the Xarabank team informed the Labour Party that it was not accepting their proposal. "This morning, we communicated to them that we would be only accepting to take part in tonight's debate," Farrugia said.
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Shut up PBO. We have ebough of WE. No better than Joseph Goebbels.
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Thanks for your comments Paul, however many are waiting for the Nationalist Party to announce its concrete proposals.
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Thanks for your comments Paul, however many are waiting for the Nationalist Party to announce its concrete proposals.
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PN can't be more arrogant. Why are they insisting on Xarabank? I smell a rat, who knows a bigger lie than the previous big lies
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I am starting to compare GonziPN with a little spoiled kid that everytime the kid don't get what he wants, he starts crying and having an attitude. In the USA they only have 3 debates in a campaign! Grow up and move on!
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PBS is now scraping the bottom. So the TV agenda is set by the Government and we all have to say YES SIR. Meanwhile, the BA bans clapping. Unbelievably shallow.
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imbasta beda bit trombi f nofs il lejl
......... jaf sa li l ewwel ta marzu ikun ga qata nifsu!!
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PL is being held at ransom,
debate with an agreed interviewer, what`s wrong with that?
what`s wrong with an unbiased interviewer.
Carmel Borg •
After the 'Franco Debono for Anglu Farrugia' stunt, which backfired big-time, I'd have thought that the MLP had learnt a thing or two. Obviously not! Imagine a party leader aspiring to be Prime Minister refusing airtime during the most watched TV show on national TV. Joseph Muscat clearly doesn't trust himself. So how are we expected to put our trust in him to lead our beautiful country?
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Obama and Romney faced each other for two ninety-minute debates in last year's presidential US election. Of course they were only dealing with the problems of the largest democracy in the world whose decisions affect the whole globe. Yet in tiny Malta whose size is less than some cattle ranches in America but where in our small village mindset issues are imagined to have so much gravity we decide we need three hours of endless and vacuous debate to tackle them . How does that saying about empty vessels make most noise apply?
Carmel Borg •
After the 'Franco Debono for Anglu Farrugia' stunt, which backfired big-time, I'd have thought that the MLP had learnt a thing or two. Obviously not! Imagine a party leader aspiring to be Prime Minister refusing airtime during the most watched TV show on national TV. Joseph Muscat clearly doesn't trust himself. So how are we expected to put our trust in him to lead our beautiful country?
Carmel Borg •
After the 'Franco Debono for Anglu Farrugia' stunt, which backfired big-time, I'd have thought that the MLP had learnt a thing or two. Obviously not! Imagine a party leader aspiring to be Prime Minister refusing airtime during the most watched TV show on national TV. Joseph Muscat clearly doesn't trust himself. So how are we expected to put our trust in him to lead our beautiful country?
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Labour should abandon all appearances on WE programmes, unless there will be two presenters for every show, obviously a WE presenter and a Labour presenter. You cannot allow each and every WE presenter to side so blatantly and shamelessly with GonziPN. I noticed that since this morning, Labour have taken the good advice that they should be more assertive and confrontational with PBS and WE presenters. And I noted with pleasure, this morning's Chris Fearne's attitude relative to Portelli and Mifsud, wherein Mifsud immediately took the hint and piped down. Portelli, used to arrogant PN approved behaviour, tried to take back the baton, without success. Prosit Chris.
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After having had a taste of the bile and venom ensuing from Where's Everybody programmes (which should read Where's PRAVDA?)it's about time someone stands up to Lou and Peppi and co. We have had up to here with their politically biased agenda all these years. They have made it good at our expense by being subservient to GonziPN's regime. The time has come to rid this country of such parasites!
Carmel Borg •
After the 'Franco Debono for Anglu Farrugia' stunt, which backfired big-time, I'd have thought that the MLP had learnt a thing or two. Obviously not! Imagine a party leader aspiring to be Prime Minister refusing airtime during the most watched TV show on national TV. Joseph Muscat clearly doesn't trust himself. So how are we expected to put our trust in him to lead our beautiful country?
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This article left me wondering who is issuing invitations for whom. Borg Olivier is saying he is issuing the invitation for a PBS-WE programme. Although this would seem to be a gross understatement, i ask since when has the PN become a spokesman for PBS?
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Dan kif Peppi Azzopardi jiddeciedi HU kemm ghandu jdum dibattitu. 3 SIEGHAT lanqas fl-Istati Uniti u mkien fl-Ewropa qatt ma smajt li dibattitu bejn illeaders taz-zewg partiti principali jdumu 3 sieghat ! Mid-dehra Gonzi ghalhekk mhu qed jitkellem xejn dwar il-proposti ta' GonziPN. U ghalhekk ghandu bzonn 6 sieghat fuq Xarabank !
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What a lot of nonsense! Xarabank should be removed from PBS once and for all. NO we do not trust Where's Everybody's Peppi, Lou and Norman as presenters on political debates. The only suitable subjects for these three are Wildlife, Hypnotism and maybe Fortune telling and nothing else. A note to Peppi: We do not need your programs or even more your advice to decide whom to vote to in the upcoming elections as we have brains to decide. These programs are only suitable to the Cuwc who has time to listen to LG.
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nazzjonalisti bil pedigree min dawk li jmorru jghinu l pn f kull attivita qed jghidu li xaratank u bondi + se jsalvaw hafna voti ....biex taraw kemm parti min strategijja .....ma kienx hemm bzonn provi.
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nazzjonalisti bil pedigree min dawk li jmorru jghinu l pn f kull attivita qed jghidu li xaratank u bondi + se jsalvaw hafna voti ....biex taraw kemm parti min strategijja .....ma kienx hemm bzonn provi.
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YES IF I WHERE JOSEPH MUSCAT I WOULD BOYCOT DARDIR MALTA ONCE AND FOR GOOD.WHAT IS THE USE AIR ON IT ,TO AID PIPPI PEPPI AND COCO LOU GET TO BUILD THEIR PERSONAL CULT. DO THEY NOT KNOW THAT THE ELECTORATE REALISE THEIR TACTICS IN QUESTIONINING.
NOW THEY HAVE ANOTHER BREED TO RELIEVE PEPPI AND IS ALREADY POISENED WHAT TO DO TOWARDS THE PL DELEGATES.
IT IS A PITTY THAT THE CNN DO NOT DISCOVER ABOUT THEM TO REPLACE PETER ARNET AND OTHERS.
THE ONLY VALUED TV REPRESENTATIVE IS RENO CALLEJJA .
THE REST IS RIFF RAFF
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Xarabank and Company: dejjaqtuna bl-insolenzi taghkom! Il-Broadcasting Authority ghandha tmexxi dawn l-programmi la intom ma intomx kapaci izzommu l-partigjanizmu politiku taghkom id-dar!
Il-manipolazzjoni taghkom, clip min hawn u iehor minn hemm takkuzaw lil PL, qisu hu kien fil-gvern, u ma issaqsu xejn, hlief mistoqsijiet semplici lil ta GonziPN.
Ma tridx tkun gharef biex tittendi li kull programm ikun bi ftehim ma GonziPN u irrihersjat ukoll?
Mhux ta b'xejn li l-apologisti ta GonziPN tghidx kemm jiftahru Mr Bondi Mr Peppi u Norman. Labour you did the right think; I have used all the vomit bags watching Peppi and Bondi+!
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Thank god ,May be Xarabank and Tvm realise at last that we are already fed up listening to debates and mostly the their repetitions on tvm 2 and tvm .Please we can read and hear their proposals and come to our own conclusions.
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Mela Paul Borg Olivier hu spokesman ghal 'Where is everybody'? Ghamel sewwa il-Labour. When the program is set against you by the 'modertor' whom you don't trust: don't go. Democrats rarely go on Fox TV because they know they will be set up!
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Il-PBS vera qieghed fil-baxx.Illum il-Gurnata ma sirtx nistikja nara lil LOU BONDI.Pruvajt narah il-bierah imma ma flahtx nissaporti l-ipokrezija ta dal bniedem.Kif jista ma jkunx biased u kif jista jkun parzjali meta waqt li kien fuq in-net ftit ta zmien ilu qal li huwa Ha jivvota LIL-PARTIT NAZZJONALISTA. Beda jaghti ragunijiet taz-ziebel u beda jaghmel teatrin shih ghaliex se jivvota hekk.Kien qal li huwa mhuwiex Nazzjonalist fid-demm imma jivvota skond min jahseb li huwa l-aqwa.Pero kulhad jaf li beda jghid hekk biex jaghmel propoganda irhisa u reklam lil dawk li huma floaters u jheggigom jaghmlu bhalu.''Lou Bondi ,Joe Azzopardi,Norman ,WE Qazzitu lil kulhadd.Tal-misthija .Anka nazzjonalisti li jahdmu mieghi stqarrew illi intom ghamiltu lix-Xandir ta Malta Kazin Tal-Partit Nazzjonalista.B dan il mod tridu lilna iz-zaghzagh nivvutaw lill-PN?
LOU Bondi Jeffrey Pullicino sewwa kien qallek li iktar qed taghmel hsara lil partit nazzjonalista milli qed taghmilu gid.X jaqq ta bniedem!!!!!!!!!
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These debates are just a waste of time. Political parties should be left to explain and defend their proposal on their own without any interruptions from WE's so-called presenters.
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Listen to the debate and expect the usual smooth talk pack of lies from Gonzi.
