Broadcaster Peppi Azzopardi has hit out at a manipulated advert showing him to be in agreement with Imperium Europa candidate Norman Lowell, which he said is now appearing on TVM.

The advert shows Azzopardi "agreeing" with the far-right candidate for the MEP elections.

Azzopardi, posting a video on Facebook, said that over the past days he has received calls and messages from people questioning how he could seriously agree with Lowell.

He played the advert, which shows Azzopardi saying 'Norman Lowell was right' and then cutting to Lowell saying that people should protest and say enough to blue or red. Azzopardi said that this is a manipulated advert. "It is not true that I said he was right. I had said he wasn't right." He then played a longer clip, showing Azzopardi saying "Someone could say Norman Lowell was right. Someone could say (that). And who is saying it does not know what they are saying historically."

Azzopardi then hit out at Norman Lowell's stances on a number of issues, stating that he does not agree with Lowell's statements.

Azzopardi said that the advert is now appearing on the national broadcasting station. "Where is the Broadcasting Authority?"

In comments to MaltaToday, the Broadcasting Authority (BA) said that a misleading Imperium Europa advert was not in breach of any law, adding that the authority does not look into the content of political messages in parties’ adverts.