The controversy sparked on Tuesday when PN issued a statement deploring the way a news bulletin, aired on Sunday and Monday on Super 1 TV, reported the prime minister’s speech. The PN alleged that Super 1 had warped passages from the Prime Minister’s, speech giving the impression that Dr Gonzi was indifferent to the peoples’ complaints.

The PN statement said that the report omitted a sentence in which Dr Gonzi explained he was speaking about the complaints Super 1 TV made.

MLP yesterday rebutted these allegations saying that PN was now trying to make up for Dr Gonzi’s slip by giving the impression that it was a propaganda attempt on the part of Super 1 TV.

The statement said that Super 1 was fair in its reporting and had even included a recording of the Prime Minister’s speech. “If PN has a problem with what the prime minister said then it should protest with Dr Gonzi and not with the station.

“The complaint the PN lodged on Tuesday uncovers the party’s hypocrisy, especially in view of the unfair way Net TV had acted just before the European Parliament elections. That day, Net TV had manipulated footage of the Labour Party mass meeting minutes after it was aired on Super 1 TV,” the statement said.

It is shameful that a mere six months after being sworn in, the Prime Minister had become so insensitive to the difficulties that thousands of Maltese and Gozitan people are faced with as a consequence of the Nationalist government’s bad management.

“On Sunday, without mincing his words, Dr Gonzi stated that he was not bothered with the complaints people made regarding his government’s leadership.” This is a shameful declaration that is in contrast with the promises the PN made to the electorate about the consultation that the government wanted to make with everyone.