When it comes to selecting the people on the board of PBS, it has remained the same as it was under a PN Government, Minister within the Office of the Prime Minister Carmelo Abela said in response to accusations by the PN that the PBS is spewing propaganda and lacks balance.

The Public Broadcasting Services (PBS)’s refusal to give airtime to Opposition Leader Bernard Grech’s recent statement, calling for Carmelo Abela’s resignation, is unacceptable, the Nationalist Party said earlier today.

In a statement on Wednesday, Grech said that Prime Minister Robert Abela should remove Minister Camelo Abela from Cabinet, after the sitting minister and Labour Deputy Leader Chris Cardona were named in a letter which sees two suspects in the murder of Daphne Caruana Galizia claiming a conflict of interest.

In response to a supplementary question in parliament posed by David Thake regarding this issue, Minister Abela said that PN leader Bernard Grech, “was reported every time he said the same thing over and over [requesting the minister’s resignation].”

He remarked that it is “false” and hypocritical of the PN to say that “during their tenure in government, PBS was impartial”.

“I do not delve into what news is published, as it is not my role,” the Minister said. He once again accused the PN of “working hand in hand with criminals.”

“If you are so close to these criminals, I stay away as I have always done,” he said.