Alternattiva Demokratika is to issue a call for tenders tomorrow for the management of its new television station.

At a press conference in front of the Broadcasting Authority’s premises yesterday, AD chairman Harry Vassallo said that his party would be submitting the additional information requested by the authority prior to the issue of a broadcasting licence. Nevertheless, anyone interested in managing the new station can obtain the Lm100 tender document from the party’s headquarters as from tomorrow. The tendering process will come to a close in a fortnight.

Dr Vassallo said the party is hoping to attract production houses that will run the station at arm’s-length from the party, and indicated that the new station will compete only against the national television station, TVM.

He heavily criticised the other stations run by political parties which, he said, merely served as their propaganda arm. The AD station, said Dr Vassallo, will fill the void created by the need for free discussion, and will be a station that will genuinely deliver a national service.

Asked whether he could vouch a priori for the station’s impartiality, Dr Vassallo said that in the past 18 years, AD had done things in a different way to the other parties. “The proof of the pudding is in the eating,” he said. “The fact that very few people associate Capital Radio with Alternattiva, its former licence owner, bodes well for the future TV station’s objectivity.”

The new station’s news bulletins will also be outsourced because “we do not want to carry our propaganda through news bulletins”, Dr Vassallo pointed out.

To this end, prospective bidders will also receive a copy of the station’s editorial policy, along with the other documents.

AD does not own studios or equipment, said Dr Vassallo. Everything will be outsourced to whoever wins the tender. In this way, AD will not need huge financial backing to start the project and, according to Dr Vassallo: “If ever the other two parties take the courageous and correct step of getting rid of their broadcasting stations, AD will be able to follow suit with the least financial impact.” Through this configuration, he said, transmissions might start from the day the Broadcasting Authority awards the licence.

Dr Vassallo said the new station, which is as yet unnamed, would also go deeper into international issues and educational broadcasting aimed at children.