Nationalist MP Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando’s manifestation – as he turned up with a temporary press pass for a political transmission with Labour leader Alfred Sant on TVM yesterday – was described by the MLP leader as “shameful and provocative”.
The BA was forced to postpone the recording of the programme, which was scheduled to be broadcast yesterday evening, after Media.Link Communications sent Dr Pullicino Orlando as a “journalist” replacing Amanda Ciappara, who was said to be unwell.
Ms Ciappara was listed as one of the six journalists that had to put questions to Labour leader Alfred Sant in a transmission forming part of the Broadcasting Authority (BA) political series in the run-up to Saturday’s general election.
In a statement, the BA said the broadcast had to be postponed after Dr Pullicino Orlando refused to move out of the studio where the recording was set to take place.
However, in a video clip sent by the Nationalist Party, BA chief executive Kevin Aquilina is clearly heard saying that the authority had agreed to accept the Media.Link Communications replacement.
“OK Profs, we’ll work that way,” he told someone on his mobile phone and went on to tell presenter Anna Bonanno, “We’re going to accept him”.
Ms Bonanno replied: “He’s having make-up applied. So he’ll still be Amanda’s (Ciappara) replacement?”
“Yes that’s right,” confirmed Dr Aquilina, adding, “I just need to tell Simon to change the captions, tell them that Pullicino Orlando will replace Amanda”.
Dr Sant entered the studio following a brief meeting with BA officials and the two general secretaries of the political parties.
Dr Pullicino Orlando held on to a temporary press card, issued by the Department of Information and only valid until Thursday as he sat among other journalists ready to put questions to Dr Sant. However, the BA said a directive forming part of the regulations for political broadcasts stipulates that journalists who are also candidates of general or local elections are not allowed to participate in such broadcasts.
As the Labour leader and his entourage entered the studio, claiming Dr Pullicino Orlando should abide by the BA directive, the PN candidate stood up and sought to address Dr Sant, who calmly moved away from journalists, photographers and members of the two parties that had gathered in the studio.
“Why are you scared to face up to me after you tarnished my reputation at your mass meeting yesterday (on Sunday). This is the fourth time I’m trying to meet you head-on in three days. You should be ashamed, Dr Sant.
“Look at me Dr Sant, look into my eyes,” Dr Pullicino Orlando told the Labour leader as he moved behind the cameras.
“God forbid you had to be elected prime minister. You are getting in the way of freedom of expression and you’re in the opposition; let alone what you would do if you had to be elected prime minister.”
As BA chairman Joseph Scicluna intervened, saying, “I think you’ve made your point Jeffrey,” he told members of the media that Media.Link Communications had informed the BA that they would send Ms Ciappara and had sent Dr Pullicino Orlando to replace her just before the shooting of the political broadcast was scheduled to begin.
But the PN candidate stood by his guns and said: “I won’t move from here. Bring the police to take me away if need be, in the same way that I was beaten by the police when I was 16”.
It was at this point that Dr Sant – who stayed silent the whole time – decided to leave and not participate in the political broadcast as long as Dr Pullicino Orlando was also there.
Speaking to members of the press, MLP secretary-general Jason Micallef said Dr Pullicino Orlando’s press card was obtained by means of corrupt practices.
“This is a fascist way of trying to stop a political broadcast on the national television station. It forms part of the PN’s desperate tactics,” he said.
PN secretary-general Joe Saliba, on the other hand, speaking to journalists outside the PBS premises as he was about to leave, said Dr Pullicino Orlando’s manifestation was backed up by the PN.
“Dr Sant does not have the guts to confront Dr Pullicino Orlando. The Nationalist candidate was entitled to be there. In 1996 a court had ruled in favour of candidates who were allowed to participate in TV programmes,” said Mr Saliba.
He said something similar to the so-called “Mistra scandal” happened just before the 1996 general election, when Dr Sant attacked Michael Frendo, only to realise afterwards that nothing had actually come out of his allegations.
“Dr Pullicino Orlando is ready to face Dr Sant and the prime minister has asked the auditor of the Malta Environment and Planning Authority to investigate Dr Pullicino Orlando’s case,” said the PN secretary-general.
The BA chairman also spoke to journalists outside the PBS premises and he said the court decision mentioned by Mr Saliba was applied when the candidate was also an employee of the TV station airing the broadcast.
Dr Pullicino Orlando said all he wanted was some time to face Dr Sant, who had tried to tarnish his reputation over the property he owned in Mistra.
On Saturday, the Labour leader revealed what he referred to as the “Mistra scandal”, saying an application had been submitted for the development of a 4,000 square-metre disco on a stretch of land owned by Dr Pullicino Orlando.
The Nationalist MP said he had been informed that Dr Sant was about to target him and had been rushing to wherever Dr Sant held a press conference for two whole days.
On Friday, he turned up at Mepa for Dr Sant’s press conference but the Labour leader, who Dr Pullicino Orlando said was perturbed when he found him there, did not refer to him at all.
On Saturday morning, Dr Pullicino Orlando followed Dr Sant to Gozo, but again the Labour leader did not refer to him at all.
When Dr Sant’s meeting in Gozo was over, according to Dr Pullicino Orlando, the Labour media surrounded him and started asking him many questions: why had he gone to the activity, did he have a press card, if he went there to defend his party why did he not say anything when Dr Sant spoke about another report on the health services and their financing that Dr Sant had just made public?
It was only later that Dr Pullicino Orlando realised that the purpose of the questions was to make him miss the next ferry back to Malta.
Meanwhile, Dr Sant held a press conference at Mistra at 1pm and it was then that he described the Mepa application for the development of a disco that can take 4,000 people at Mistra as a scandal of the first order. The land is owned by Dr Pullicino Orlando and forms part of the Outside Development Zone network.
However, Dr Pullicino Orlando said he did not know whom the land was rented to; neither did he know that the tenant had submitted a planning application.
Meanwhile, in a live spot on One News shortly after having left the PBS premises, Dr Sant, accompanied by secretary-general Jason Micallef, said: “It was supposed to be a female journalist from Net who was to attend and instead, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando turned up accompanied by PN information officer Gordon Pisani and secretary -general Joe Saliba.”
He said that as a candidate for the forthcoming general election, Dr Pullicino Orlando had no right to be there, press card or no press card. “Speaking of which, I wonder how that press card was obtained, it is valid up till 6 March and there is some form of corruption there,” said Dr Sant.
He said that Dr Pullicino Orlando continued to disrupt proceedings and insisted that he should be allowed to face off against Dr Sant in the discussion.
He said that this was the latest in a series of provocative incidents against the MLP or its supporters. “Last week, they illegally detained a One News cameraman at Villa Arrigo. The week before, a PN journalist was asking provocative questions to MLP supporters during a political activity and now this,” said Dr Sant.
He said that this was not serious behaviour. “It was not serious behaviour and it was provocative, but we will not stop lifting the lid on scandals we come across,” said the MLP leader.
In a statement issued later yesterday afternoon, the BA said the standard practice was that journalists standing for general or local elections would not be allowed to participate in press conferences.
This condition is specifically listed in the BA’s regulations regarding broadcasts for general and local elections.
The statement said that when Dr Pullicino Orlando turned up to replace Ms Ciappara, BA officials explained that he could not participate in the press conference; since he then refused to leave the studio the shoot of the political broadcast could not take place.
The authority said it was in contact with the concerned parties, in a bid to broadcast the press conference with Dr Sant on TVM this evening.
In a counter-statement, the Nationalist Party said the BA itself had accepted to have Dr Pullicino Orlando replace Ms Ciappara and put questions to Dr Sant during the political broadcast.
The BA allowed Dr Pullicino Orlando to participate in the press conference following legal advice from its lawyer, said the PN.
It added that the BA changed its decision following insistence from Dr Sant and other MLP officials, who did not want Dr Pullicino Orlando to be there for the broadcast.
The PN statement went on to say that Dr Sant also asked the BA chairman to bring the police to take the Nationalist MP out of the studio and it was Dr Sant himself who decided to leave the studio, insisting he did not want him (Dr Pullicino Orlando) in the studio.
Concluding, the statement said Dr Sant again showed that his policy was to attack people, while failing to give them space to defend themselves.
It was the MLP secretary general himself who said, in a spot on One News, that Dr Sant did not want Dr Pullicino Orlando to be present since he was going to speak about him during the political broadcast, said the PN.
The Institute of Maltese Journalists expressed its regret that the Department of Information allowed a parody of journalism to take place when it issued a press card to a politician. This was an unprofessional decision, the institute said.