Former TVM head of news to run for PL President

Norma Saliba has announced her candidacy for the post of Labour Party President, months after she was unceremoniously pushed out of the TVM newsroom.

Saliba, who resigned from the Head of News position at the national broadcaster last year, citing a “deceitful character assassination campaign” as the reason, said that it had been Prime Minister Robert Abela who asked her to throw her hat into the ring.

In a Facebook post on Saturday, Saliba said that after much consideration, she had decided to accept Prime Minister Robert Abela’s invitation to submit her nomination for the position. "A new impetus and fresh ideas are needed as part of the party's continous process of renewal," Saliba wrote.

During her time at TVM, Saliba had been criticised by the Nationalist Party, who accused the station of showing partiality, describing it as being reduced to an “offshoot” of the Labour-owned station One.

Saliba’s departure from the national broadcaster is reported to have taken place after repeated clashes with its executive chairman,  Mark Sammut.

As things stand today, she will be running against Alex Sciberras who was earlier reported as being interested in the deputy leadership post. Sources with knowledge of the party’s internal affairs described Sciberras as a progressive candidate, who does not hail from the Robert Abela camp.

Sciberras' nomination was proposed by Ian Borg and seconded by Clifton Grima. Borg is running for the post of deputy leader parliamentary affairs, while Grima was touted as a potential candidate for the post of deputy leader for party affairs.

After news of Saliba's candidacy broke on Saturday, PN Secretary General Michael Piccinio took to Facebook to point out that earlier this year, a judge had ruled that the public broadcaster and the Broadcasting Authority had breached the PN's rights in its coverage of the parliamentary vote on the Sofia inquiry.

"Robert Abela is awarding those who turned what should be the people's station into Super One 2," Piccinino said.