Broadcasting Authority decisions show Abela uses PBS as his personal platform - PN

The Nationalist Party has stated that Broadcasting Authority decision on budget adverts shows that “Robert Abela seems to believe he can use PBS as his personal platform.”

“The station, which is supposed to serve the nation, is being systematically and methodically used by Robert Abela as a propaganda machine. This is now widely known as the years have provided ample evidence,” the Nationalist Party said in a press conference on Thursday.

"Every decision by the Broadcasting Authority in favour of Nationalist Party further confirms how TVM has effectively become ‘Super One 2,” Secretary General of the Nationalist Party Michael Piccinino and Shadow Minister for Public Broadcasting Claudette Buttigieg stated.

This comes after the airing of an advertisement featuring Prime Minister Robert Abela ahead of the 2024 Budget, which Abela labelled as "informative public service messages."

"Despite Robert Abela’s repeated attempts to mislead the public into believing that the advertisements he ordered were meant to inform people, the Broadcasting Authority has now exposed this as mere propaganda," Piccinino said.

The PN pointed out how the organisation [PBS] has been accused of favoring the Labour Party under the leadership of editor Charles Dalli. They also referred to the instances where former PBS editor Norma Salba was found guilty of bias against the Nationalist Party.

“A single mistake might have been an error; 21 instances clearly show intent,” they stated.

Piccinino affirmed that the Nationalist Party would “not stop fighting against bias in a station that is supposed to present an accurate and truthful picture of the country’s events."

Labour Party criticises ‘PN’s hypocrisy for political convenience’

The Labour Party criticised the PN for failing to acknowledge that the Court clearly rejected its requests “to impose a gag order and prevent the public from learning about the positive Budget presented by the Government.”

“This Budget introduced the largest tax cut in history, meaning that the first €1,000 earned by every worker is tax-free. Alongside this, measures such as the tenth pension increase and a significant rise in the Children’s Allowance were among the initiatives Bernard Grech did not want the public to be informed about,” it said. “Bernard Grech's hypocrisy grows even further when considering that the same Budget adverts he complained about were broadcast as paid content on his own station.”