Censorship may take various forms. The one I will delve on is the censorship exercised by the two leading political parties' media machine in our small island.

Infested with partisan politics and blatant promises which cannot be kept, the two leading political parties continue to use their media to mould and shape the things to come in future for every one of us.

Super One and Net TV prefer to be in charge. It is understandable. Being in charge gives them greater control so they can "muster the troops" and direct resources and efforts towards their goals - power.

Over the last four months both the Nationalist and Labour media machines opted to qualify, censure or outright ignore statements made by the Union Haddiema Maghqudin. The media is a tool which both political parties use to portray their party in good light with the electorate.

The UHM, being an independent general union, shall continue to constructively criticise and propose its agenda to society. It will not stop short from highlighting irregularities and proposals that run counter to the workers' interests. The UHM will also continue to strive to bring about the changes which are in the national and workers' interest.

From information compiled by our internal press department, it appears that Super One media, owned by the Malta Labour Party, opted not to give any coverage to nine consecutive press conferences and activities organised by the UHM.

On the other hand Net TV, owned by the Nationalist Party, covered most of our press conferences and activities, however, the reporting leaves much to be desired.

Compared to what was reported by PBS and the English language dailies, one would immediately realise that our political media machines censure what they feel is not in the interest of their party. In this regard the UHM feels the two political parties' leaders should look into this matter to ensure they can sustain their credibility.

The two major political parties complain with the Broadcasting Authority when, occasionally, PBS airs a feature which is a couple of seconds longer than the time allocated to the other party. However, the parties' media censorship is quite efficient in the case of those who air views that run counter to the party's cheap propaganda.

Political patronage has over the years eroded the true national interest. Today, to further compound matters, the two main political parties own their media machines. Far from objective and certainly biased, the politically-owned media is not in any way steering our society to a higher degree of appreciation of international competition, technological advances and changing population patterns. It is against this backdrop that political parties' policies should be evaluated.

Political parties that continue to promise shelter and hide the reality which we need to embrace to ensure a truly socially just society will not live long. People may be fooled by the power of the media but political parties cannot survive for long if and when people take the full load of incompetence and arrogance.

Today one may conclude that the political parties' media has made self-praise and mud-slinging their number one objective. Pluralism in this sector has certainly not achieved the desired results. On the contrary, the political parties' media have further fostered division among the people of this small island.

The courage the two main political parties profess they have fails to tackle their media and transform it into a constructive open line of communication with society. The national interest deserves better from the politically-owned media which is only fostering the "us and them" mentality. In this scenario one asks: What is the role of the Broadcasting Authority? One may speculate, or else...

The UHM may be censured by the media belonging to the two leading political parties but it will not be silenced.

Mr Vella is secretary general of the Union Haddiema Maghqudin.