“Action on climate change can bolster the nation’s economic progress,”  Bernard Grech stated in parliament. TVM reported “PN leader says that climate change is an obstacle to economic growth”.

The public broadcaster’s distortion of Bernard Grech’s words was so brazen that even the highly partisan Speaker Anglu Farrugia was constrained to order the PBS to correct its report.

“Metsola described as complicit in protest against genocide”, one of ONE News regular Metsola-bashing headlines reported.  Another read “They say that Metsola is facilitating genocide in Gaza”. “Accused of being responsible for genocide” was followed by “Metsola signs EU declaration that supplies missiles”. That same week Roberta Metsola was awarded the Boniface VIII International award for her work towards “the culture of peace”.

This is the tilted playing field in which Malta goes to the ballot box in just a few weeks’ time. Just having an election doesn’t mean you’ve got a democracy.  Elections can only be truly fair and free if there is a level playing field. In Malta that playing field has been tilted for years. Now its gradient is so steeply set that there’s only one party in serious contention - Labour.

We’re not talking about stuffing ballot boxes. The methods that Labour employs are slightly subtler but equally ruthless. Labour has eroded democratic norms so dramatically that the country faces civil death.

When the national broadcaster reports the diametrical opposite of what the Opposition leader states, when the Maltese EU President is relentlessly accused of genocide, when critical voices are stifled through multiple court cases, when adversaries are harassed, intimidated  and even deprived of their income in retaliation, that is not the context for free and fair elections.

Democracy is about a whole system of habits and norms. It’s about how the media works. In Malta’s case it’s about how Labour captured the state broadcaster to manipulate information and dominate the narrative. There is a massive power imbalance because Labour has far greater power, appetite and capacity to hijack the media.

Labour changed the public broadcaster on a scale difficult to fathom for an EU country.  Not even Poland’s now deposed Law and Justice party managed to capture their national broadcaster as Labour has.  PBS was rapidly turned into a virulent propaganda machine of the ruling party. PBS even censored Pope Francis’ comments about corruption.

It reported the complete opposite of what Bernard Grech said. Now it’s promoted two inexperienced Labour loyalists in their twenties to senior positions in the newsroom ahead of seasoned journalists like Ruth Amaira or Maria Muscat. The only thing that counts for PBS is not your competence or experience but how deep red Labour you are.

Labour hasn’t just hijacked PBS.  It’s got its own mouthpiece, ONE news, to target Labour’s critics.  ONE produces vitriolic news items on an industrial scale. It digs its fangs into Labour’s critics and won’t let go until their prey is limp. Andrew Borg Cardona, Manuel Delia, Robert Aquilina, Arnold Cassola and Jason Azzopardi  have all been relentlessly targeted and mocked by ONE.  So have David Casa and Roberta Metsola. 

Labour’s smear campaign against Bernard Grech “the Greek” continues unabated. Now they’ve turned their guns on Roberta Metsola.  There is no depth to which Labour won’t stoop to damage their opponents.  Accusing Metsola of fuelling and facilitating genocide is pathetically bizarre. But that’s the narrative Labour is using to question her integrity.

By destroying her credibility, harassing her with constant attacks and fabricated stories Labour embarks on a mission to ruin her life and in the process depress her followers and admirers. The fabricated story that Metsola is some genocidal maniac is utterly ludicrous. Yet Labour pushes it so relentlessly that their outlandish claims almost sound plausible. For Labour’s loyal supporters it’s gospel truth.

Labour is intent on making Metsola taste the bitter poison of their malice. Their objective is clear - to dissuade her from ever considering returning to Malta.  And if that fails, they would have discredited her so completely that her chances are wrecked before she’s even started.

But Labour’s desperate attempts at destroying Metsola are simply swamped by the litany of international accolades she keeps receiving.  She’s been nominated as the most influential MEP. She’s been listed as one of the women of the year by Corriere della Sera. Madrid named her as woman of the year.   Lithuania gave her their highest honour.  Palermo lauded her efforts against corruption. Maria Falcone, the sister of assassinated magistrate Giovanni Falcone, presented Metsola an award.

Labour expends so much effort denigrating Metsola because they’re terrified of her. That’s also why Robert Abela keeps harassing and attacking her.  That’s why PBS joins in those efforts to malign her. “European Parliament president Roberta Metsola states that her position on abortion is the same as that of the European Parliament.  The EP is for abortion”, PBS’ headline ran.

‘Make the life of your adversaries impossible’ is Labour’s motto. And it’s not just adversaries Labour targets.  Anybody expressing any critical view will face the overwhelming wrath of Labour and its propaganda machine.

Peppi Azzopardi paid for his criticism by having his TV show Xarabank axed.  Saviour Balzan on the other hand got more and more airtime on national TV, even though Balzan’s viewership was a mere fraction of Azzopardi’s. That Labour message could not be starker - you cross us, we’ll crush you; you back us, you’re safe.

Xarabank was Azzopardi’s livelihood. Labour took it away from him - to punish him and to teach the rest a lesson. That’s another loud Labour message: we don’t care whether you’ve got the biggest audiences, whether you’re the most recognised personality on the island. We’ll show you. If people know that if they don’t support Labour they will lose their livelihood that’s not really a fair election is it?

In contrast Labour continues to Saviour Balzan, out of taxpayers’ funds. That must be the clearest of all Labour’s messages - it pays to back Labour, oppose Labour at your own risk.