Simon Busuttil robocalls electorate urging votes for PN candidates

Opposition leader embarks on outreach campaign making use of recorded voice calls ... but technical glitch sees voters receiving calls late at night

The Nationalist Party last night embarked on a new outreach campaign making use of robocalls, automated phone messages which have taken political campaigning abroad by storm.

The plan was for thousands of people to receive a call on their phone, between 6pm and 8pm, by PN leader Simon Busuttil. The receiver, when answering the incoming call, would listen to Busuttil urging the electorate to vote for the PN candidates in next Saturday's local councils election.

The call was pre-recorded.

However the innovative idea, which was met with mixed reviews, did not go exactly as planned - a technical glitch forced a delay in the robocalls, with receivers reporting receiving calls late in the night.