The Opposition has presented a parliamentary motion to repeal the controversial new legal notice on billboards.

PN spokesman Jason Azzopardi said this morning the law was an impediment to freedom of expression and hindered the work being done by political parties and other organisations.

He added that the law had been introduced without any consultation and would have a negative effect on businesses. The GRTU and Chamber of Commerce have also criticised the legal notice, with the former saying it would place undue financial burdens on businesses and the Chamber decrying the lack of consultation prior to its introduction. 

The new regulations were issued by legal notice on March 29. They limit political billboards, free of licence fees, to three months before an election.

Should the parties wish to put up billboards outside that time span they would have to pay an annual licence fee of €1,500 per billboard to Transport Malta.

The party has submitted an application requesting the court to stop the government from removing its billboards. The party's request for a warrant of prohibitory injunction was provisionally upheld earlier this month until the court definitively decides the case.

Earlier this week, the PN argued in court that the new legal notice does not revoke the old one, as is the norm.

Opposition spokesman Ryan Callus insisted this morning the law had been hurried through specifically to muzzle the Opposition and prevent it speaking out about the issues thrown up by the Panama Papers leak.

Speaker Anġlu Farrugia welcomed the motion, which he said was evidence of a thriving democracy, and said it would be debated in Parliament at the earliest opportunity.