The Broadcasting Authority yesterday decided against granting a remedy to the Nationalist Party over the controversial broadcast by PBS of the Prime Minister’s New Year’s message.
In a statement, the BA said that it had no remit to decide on the format and style of the production produced by the Office of the Prime Minister and so it could not express itself on this issue.
However, the BA said that the public broadcaster was obliged to broadcast the message of the Prime Minster in which he speaks about what happened during the preceding 12 months and the government’s plans for the following year.
The issues in the message mentioned by the PM had been discussed fora long time on public broadcasting and the different views had already been known and brought to the public adequately
“The Authority feels that in this case, the issues in the message mentioned by the Prime Minister had been discussed for a long time on public broadcasting and the different views had already been known and brought to the public adequately.”
The Nationalist Party complained that Dr Muscat’s message was a political broadcast from beginning to end and was more of a political party production than a message to the nation.
Dr Muscat’s broadcast – a 20-minute TV production – portrayed him visiting the kitchen of a young couple who said they had benefited from a tax exemption introduced by the government in 2013 for first-time buyers. Following the broadcast, the Times of Malta revealed that the couple had not really benefited from Labour’s tax scheme, as according to property registry documents they had purchased their home in 2008.
Asked whether the OPM had checked before airing the production whether the couple had indeed benefited from the tax exemption, as even mentioned by the Prime Minister, the OPM did not reply. A spokesman would not clarify whether the Prime Minister’s visit was meant to be “playacting” or a genuine visit.
Yesterday’s BA’s decision was the first since the appointment of a new chairman.
Earlier this month, Tanya Borg Cardona replaced Anthony Tabone as the broadcasting watchdog’s head following her nomination by the Prime Minister.