The Opposition has deemed Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s new year’s message to be a political advert and is seeking redress from the Broadcasting Authority.
The Public Broadcasting Service refutes the claim but has asked the authority to issue clear guidelines on the format of the prime minister’s end-of-year television address.
The two sides locked horns yesterday afternoon when the recently appointed BA board, now under the chairmanship of Tanya Borg Cardona, met for the first time to listen to the Opposition’s submissions on the complaint.
In his message for 2016, the Prime Minister last month broke with tradition and, instead of delivering a 20-minute speech from his office, made his address in a slick video which cost taxpayers €8,400.
The production opened with a scene of a grand piano being played on a cliff edge in Mellieħa and then featured 40 members of the National Philharmonic Orchestra at Fort Sant Angelo playing the national anthem.
Apart from dramatic aerial shots of various locations on the islands, the Prime Minister is seen conversing with a young couple in a modern, lavish kitchen.
Acknowledging that this year’s message contained some ‘play-acting’, he said this was part of an effort to revamp the format, as it had become stale
The video fuelled controversy, with critics like Marlene Farrugia, a former Labour, now independent MP, saying that the money spent on the production should have been distributed to people in need.
As for the content itself, the PN is claiming the message was tantamount to a political advert.
Nationalist MP Francis Zammit Dimech yesterday filed the Opposition’s submissions before the BA board, arguing that by law political adverts were only allowed as part of a formal schedule issued with the blessing of the broadcasting authority.
He backed the claim by referring to a number of issues mentioned in the address which Dr Zammit Dimech said were a matter of political controversy: the American University of Malta, the fight against corruption, the planning authority demerger, the issuing of visa to Libyans and Algerians and the positive economic indicators.
The lawyer for PBS, Mark Vassallo, countered that the Prime Minister’s message fell within the parameters of the law. However, Dr Vassallo called on the authority to issue clear guidelines, even including what kind of filming and editing should be allowed.
While acknowledging that this year’s message contained some “play-acting”, he said this was part of an effort to revamp the format of the address, as it had become stale.
As for the content itself, Dr Vassallo pointed out that in his last new year’s message in December 2012, former prime minister Lawrence Gonzi had made reference to certain controversial issues, too, such as positive economic indicators and success in job creation.
Dr Vassallo argued that it was perfectly legitimate and unavoidable to make political comments when talking about plans for the year ahead.
A decision by the authority is expected in the coming weeks.