Greens lambast BA ‘servant of PL and PN’ over conference schedule

The Broadcasting Authority has confirmed that it is totally excluding Alternattiva Demokratika and smaller parties from TV debates during the electoral campaign while the PN and PL will have four debates between them and a press conference each.

The Chairperson of Alternattiva Demokratika, Prof. Arnold Cassola, said: “The Broadcasting Authority, with half of the members nominated by PN and the other half by PL, is showing that it is there only to accommodate the two bigger parties. This, despite the fact they already own a TV and radio station each, that transmit political propaganda 24 hours a day.”

Cassola said that the BA had “lost all sense of dignity, and will therefore not allow the Maltese people to listen to and compare the different views of the different parties.”

The BA schedule will provide two conferences of 60 minutes each with five journalists asking questions to party representatives.

There will be four other political debates between two Labour and PN representatives, and one debate between the Prime Minister and the Opposition leader.

The PL and the PN will each be given a total of 120 minutes of political spots and 20 minutes only for each other party contesting in the election.

Independent candidates will get five minutes.

A final message of three minutes from party leaders will also be granted.

The BA said that press conferences with Labour Party representatives will have journalists from TVM, Net TV, The Malta Independent, il-Mument, and Church radio RTK, while the PN representatives will be faced by TVM, One TV, MaltaToday, the Times, and Union Print.