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Anton Attard snubs Jason Micallef’s call for resignation
PBS chief executive plays downs calls made by Labour TV chairman to move out of Public Broadcasting Services.
25 March 2013, 12:00am
Miriam Dalli
Miriam Dalli
2 min read
PBS chief executive Anton Attard
The Public Broadcasting Services chief executive officer Anton Attard has snubbed calls made by former PL secretary-general Jason Micallef calling for his resignation.
Taking to Facebook, Micallef - who unsuccessfully contested the 9 March elections - insisted that Attard, together with PBS head of news Natalino Fenech, should resign from their posts.
Dubbing Attard "a Nationalist par excellence", Jason Micallef insisted that for the national broadcaster to be returned to the people, "Anton Attard and Natalino Fenech must resign without further delay".
Micallef insisted that their behaviour at PBS was "always to be of service to the PN".
But when contacted by MaltaToday, Anton Attard insisted that he had "no comment to make".
When asked whether he was considering tendering his resignation, Attard reiterated that he had "absolutely nothing to comment about".
In his comment, Micallef said that "decency" demanded that government appointees willingly hand in their resignation. "Their [Attard and Fenech's] track record calls for it. The Broadcasting Authority has repeatedly found them guilty of political bias and yet they haven't handed in their resignation. They should shoulder the responsibility for their actions," Micallef said.
Micallef insisted that Fenech and Attard were "political appointees" working at a TV station "which belongs to Malta".
The Labour candidate however refused to confirm whether he shared any interests in the resignation of Attard as CEO.
Questioned by MaltaToday over whether he was interested in becoming PBS's new CEO, Micallef said that his interest was "that the station is returned back to the people".
Asked whether he believed that Prime Minister Joseph Muscat should ask for their resignation, Micallef insisted that Attard and Fenech should resign voluntarily.
Micallef also contested the 2013 general elections on a Labour ticket and garnered 576 votes on the first count. He however had "no comment to make" when asked to comment over his dismal performance in the general elections or whether he knew what went wrong.
Miriam Dalli joined MaltaToday.com.mt in 2010 becoming assistant editor f...
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PBS WAS AN INSTRUMENT OF SICKENING PN PROPAGANDA IN THE RECENT GENERAL ELECTIONS. SOMEBODY MUST ANSWER.
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jason micallef, norman hamilton and saviour balzan in pole for the posts of PBS CEO and PBS HEAD OF NEWS.........
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Fi 9 ta'Marzu jien ivvutajt biex ikkolna xandir ahjar.Sissa l-istess nies ghadna naraw fuq ix-xandir
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Fi 9 ta'Marzu jien ivvutajt biex ikkolna xandir ahjar.Sissa l-istess nies ghadna naraw fuq ix-xandir
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Fi 9 ta'Marzu jien ivvutajt biex ikkolna xandir ahjar.Sissa l-istess nies ghadna naraw fuq ix-xandir
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They should have resigned from the day after the election results. Xarabank and Bondi plus has to go too. They should go on Net if they want to continue.
All of them breached the Broadcast Authority rules.
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They should have resigned from the day after the election results. Xarabank and Bondi plus has to go too. They should go on Net if they want to continue.
All of them breached the Broadcast Authority rules.
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They should have resigned from the day after the election results. Xarabank and Bondi plus has to go too. They should go on Net if they want to continue.
All of them breached the Broadcast Authority rules.
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They should resign immediately.. Even now these arrogant persons meddle with the news as if nothing has happened. As if , thanks to them , gonzipn has not been defeated. They should be replaced by neutral persons and certainly not by Jason Micallef. This is not a mattter of ma jaqblux maghna, these guys jahdmu kontrina and so they should resign . They know that for them it is much better to stay there as for the PL it would be a bit blunt if they were removed. And so Natalino and Attard would want their pound of flesh.
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@torquemada: It is not a question of a purge. None whatsoever. But those who abused of the Law, those who brought PBS to the level that Xandir Malta was in the 1980s, must be made to leave and, yes, face the due process of law. Meritocracy, or purge, it is not justice to allow people who abuse of the law to get away with it. The basic tenets of our Constitution is that everyone is equal under the Law. On the other hand I agree with galvin that their replacement should not be filled by Jason Micallef.
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Pbs through all the election campainservedas if it was a Pn Tv. Nathalino and Attard were respobsible for such behaviour. Yes you can work with,abour even if you you do not agree, but only if yku havenothija ked PBS for six months and more.
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Jien iehor min dawk li vvotajt l-ewwel darba ghal PL ghax kont xbajt mit-tmexxija tal-Gvern ta' GonziPN, li kienet biss estensjoni tal-PN li tagevola grupp ristrett "ta' hbieb tal-hbieb". Fil-lista personali ta' prijoritajiet li tant kienu dejquni kien hemm it-tmexxija u l-kontenut partiggjan fuq televizjoni li ironikament kont qed inhallas ghalih jien ukoll! Ta dan il-Gvern ta' GonziPN diga' hallas bit-tkaxkira papali fl-ahhar elezzjoni generali...PERO min kien responsabbli fl-ewwel post, jigifieri Anton Attard u Natalino Fenech, ghadu jixxahxah taht il-kutra u gie jaqa' u jqum min kollox u kullhadd ghax ma kellux id-dicenza li mqar joffri r-rezenja tieghu. Dan mhux sew u lanqas gust ma cittadini onesti li kienu qed jahsbu li b'bidla fil-gvern, dawn ser jithallsu t'ghemilhom. Jekk dawn u nies ohra f'karigi pubblici (bhal Kummissarju tal-Puluzija), jibqaw fejn huma, jien u certament bosta ohrajn ma nargawx nafdaw lil PL u l-Joseph Muscat. Inkella ghaliex konna ngergru qabel l-elezzjoni......
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What happened to the cry tista ma taqbilx maghna imma tista tahdem maghna?! A purge seems to be underway.
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Anton Attard and PBS head of news Natalino Fenech, should resign from their posts as soon as possible.
The minister responsible for PBS should see that they
be removed from their posts.It will be wrong if they will be replaced by Jason Micallef.
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@mikegatt3
Apparti l-famuza MERIT-O-KRA-ZIJA!
Donnok qed tiddejjaq tghati l-parir lil Prim Ministru biex 'ITAJJAR' lis-sur Anton Attard min CEO ta PBS!
Inti tghidx kemm tajt pariri bhal dawn fuq il-kummenti tal-Malta Today...mela qed tibbakfajerjalek il-makna!!!!
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There is no doubt that Anton Attard and Natalino Fenech broke every rule in the book to support the GONZIPN in Government and during the election campaign. They should not only resign but criminal proceedings be instituted against their arrogance and disrespect for the law which mandated the Public Broadcasting impartiality. If they do not have the decency to go on their own, let them be prosecuted for such gross violations. It is not just Jason Micallef who is requesting this but the vast majority of the electorate who were disgusted by the way PBS was being manipulated.
Zack Depasquale •
Qatt ma qbilt ma Jason Micallef, imma fuq din Jason ghandu ragun mija fil-mija. Anton Attard u Natalino Fenech kieku kellhom ftit dicenza kienu jirrezenjaw mat-thabbira tar-rizultat tal-elezzjoni, imma la dicenza spiccat mill-vokabularju ta'dawn in-nies dawn ghandhom jitnehhew. Jien ivvutajt ghal bidla jekk nies bhal dawn ma jitnehhewx il-bidla li kont qieghed nohlom fuqha ma tkunx sehhet. Ma jistax ikun li nies bhal dawn jibqghu jgawdu u jaghffgu lill-haddiehor qisu qatt ma kien xejn. Ma nemminx f'ingustizzji ghax batejthom u naf x'jigifieri imma gustizzja trid isir ma min thanzer u ghamel l-ingustizzji.
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You are right Jason in demanding a self resignation from such people
