PN posts controversial recording online

Nationalist MEP candidate Alex Perici Calascione yesterday published the full audio recording of a meeting held last week with hunters after Labour leader Joseph Muscat challenged him to do so.

On Sunday, Dr Muscat released a short piece of the discussion where Dr Perici Calascione read out two letters signed by former Prime Minister Eddie Fenech Adami to promise hunters that spring hunting would remain after EU membership. In the short clip, Dr Perici Calascione said only two things could be concluded from the letters: that Dr Fenech Adami was mad or that he deliberately took hunters for a ride.

Both the Nationalist Party and Dr Perici Calascione quickly reacted saying the candidate had been quoted out of context. Dr Perici Calascione sued Dr Muscat for libel on Monday.

The PN then released other audio clips from the meeting to prove their point but Dr Muscat said these were chosen selectively and did not in any way contradict the content published in the first place. He challenged the PN to publish the full clip.

The PN said yesterday such a challenge was "shameful" because Labour should have released the full clip in the first place.

"Dr Muscat is continuing to act like an unethical journalist by manipulating the facts to serve his purposes. But the PN does not have any interest in twisting the facts so it is broadcasting the whole meeting online," the PN said.

In a counter-statement the Labour Party thanked the PN for giving in to pressure and yesterday published a recording of a meeting which the Prime Minister and Dr Perici Calascione had with a group of hunters at Buskett and which the PN wanted to keep secret.

The PL said the recording confirmed that the Prime Minister had lost control and was trying to justify deceit as he was trying to do with other sectors of society.

The PL said it was worth noting that the recording published by the PN confirmed that the first part, which was published by PL leader Joseph Muscat was not edited as the PN had tried to imply. In fact it was a full excerpt.

On the contrary, the parts published by the Dr Perici Calascione yesterday were edited.

The full speech can be heard on www.pn.org.mt.