The Ministry for Investment, Industry and IT said yesterday the Malta Labour Party wants to turn the clock back to the times when it directly controlled and intervened in what was being said at the time.

In a press release issued last night, the ministry referred to the press conference held by MLP secretary general in front of the Public Broadcasting Services offices in Hamrun. During that press conference, Mr Micallef said that certain current affairs programmes broacast on PBS are being manipulated.

The ministry however said that in his speech, Mr Micallef showed his “hipocrisy” by saying that he should decide who should conduct current programmes on PBS and went as far as to say that he himself should decide when these should be broadcast.

The ministry said it is clear that Mr Micallef was criticising the schedule of certain programmes for commercial purposes, since PBS also competes with One TV.

This “disgusting” interference goes against the principles of democracy that uphold the need for autonomous public broadcasting. The ministry said it is not interfereing with the the way PBS runs the station – decisions regarding programmes broadcast on PBS are taken solely by the corporation.

PBS is obliged to respect its obligations regarding impartiality acording to the Constitution and the Broadcasting Authority ensures that this takes place, the ministry said.