The Nationalist Party said today that the Labour Party should apologise to PBS employees for statements in Parliament by Labour MP Evarist Bartolo, who had compared the state broadcaster to the one in Zimbabwe.

The PN said the Labour Party should dissociate itself from the 'insensitive' declaration by Mr Bartolo, who had compared Malta to a country where human rights were trampled and freedom of expression was severely restricted.

The PN said that as a senior lecturer in journalism, Mr Bartolo should have known better. Mr Bartolo had forgotten his days as a journalist in the Xandir Malta newsroom and how under Labour governments, even the name of the PN leader was censored.