PN candidate blasts ‘impartial’ TVM

In a scathing attack at the Public Broadcasting Services (PBS), the Nationalist Party's MEP candidate Kevin Plumpton has claimed that the state media's news has become littered with bias, Sunday newspaper Illum reveals.

Following PBS's failure to report Edward Scicluna's admission that the government had rushed on the citizenship scheme, PN Leader Simon Busuttil had accused PBS of "arrogantly censoring what could embarrass the Labour government," while on his part, the party's secretary general Chris Said had also accused the state media of delivering "impartial" news - a stand also voiced by Kevin Plumpton.

"ONE news is now starting at 8pm," Plumpton argued.

The young candidate has recently landed in hot water with the Nationalist Party after he urged the party to withdraw a threat to revoke citizenships granted under the Individual Investor Programme.

His comments also saw him urge the PN to put its partisan interests aside and back the revamped citizenship scheme - much to the disdain of the Nationalist Party which in turn dissociated itself from its candidate's comments.

Speaking exclusively on his controversial stand, the PN MEP candidate played down the issue but nevertheless insisted that it had influenced him.

"If elected," Plumpton argued, "I would use the European Parliament as the necessary platform to safeguard the rights of Malta and the fundamental human rights of all migrants."

"Given Malta's size, the influx of migrants has become unsustainable. However, the issue is not solved by xenophobia, racism or repatriation threats," Plumpton said.

In a dig at former Nationalist MPs Franco Debono and Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, Plumpton also explained that every Nationalist MP is now pulling the same rope in the same direction.

Read more in today's edition of Illum.