The Broadcasting Authority is urging controversial presenter Emmy Bezzina to limit the use of offensive words during his programme Il-Parlament tal-Poplu, which is broadcast every Thursday on Smash TV.

Dr Bezzina’s programme came under the spotlight of the Broadcasting Authority after callers took the presenter for a ride in several editions, provoking him into using insulting remarks.

The programme producers should do their best to monitor the calls that come in and the presenter would do well to be more cautious in what he says, sources said.

In a letter to Smash TV, BA executive chairman Pierre Cassar said the station needed to adopt “increased vigilance” to monitor both Dr Bezzina’s comments but also the people calling in with their comments.

One caller used vulgar language to which Dr Bezzina replied by comparing the caller to “onions marinated in mice dirt”. In another instance, a caller asked Dr Bezzina why did not enter politics, and was told by the host to ‘jump off Dingli Cliffs with a noose attached to your neck’.

Since the BA announced its investigation, Dr Bezzina made it clear to his viewers that the calls that the station was receiving were being “monitored by authorities” and that steps could be taken against those who abused.