PBS starts carrying MLP EU spots
Sant calls on chairman, board to resign
The Labour Party yesterday evening broadcast the first of a series of information spots on the European Union on Public Broadcasting Services - just 24 hours after the court ruled in its favour.
On Thursday, Mr Justice Joseph R. Micallef dismissed a writ filed by PBS Limited against the Broadcasting Authority and upheld another filed by the MLP against the BA and PBS.
The authority had ordered PBS to allocate airtime to the MLP to broadcast its spots on the alternatives to EU membership.
PBS claimed the authority's decision was in violation of its rights because it was being unjustly forced to give airtime to a political party when such time had been reserved by the television station for advertising.
The MLP said the spots which were meant to be aired from last June would be shown over the coming weeks.
The first spot, aired last night, focused on the sectors of the self-employed, the free movement of workers and the shipyards.
Between June 7 (the day when the BA agreed that the MLP should be given the right to air its spots on PBS) and September 1, the time allocated to the MLP spots was 130 minutes, the party said.
According to the remedy given by the BA, this is just a third of the time allotted to the Malta-EU Information Centre during the same period.
In a press conference, broadcast live on Super One in the evening, Opposition Leader Alfred Sant called for the resignation of PBS chairman Anthony Tabone and the rest of the board, saying the court's decision had upheld what the MLP had been claiming for years.
He said the MLP had always held that state boradcasting was slanted against the MLP, and that the voice of the opposition was being strangled.
"The court's decision is a vote of no confidence in PBS and its board," he said, flanked by deputy leaders George Vella and Joe Brincat.
When asked whether he felt it was fair that the MLP would not pay for the spots, Dr Sant said that PBS would still be allowed to schedule additional airtime for advertising so that the decision would not have a negative commercial impact.