A court has ruled that state broadcaster TVM can air the government’s budget adverts, turning down a case filed by the Nationalist Party.

In a press conference after the decision was handed down by Madam Justice Miriam Hayman, the Labour Party said that the PN’s court case went against people’s “national interest” to know about the budget and to know the direction in which the country is heading.

The PN had argued that the spots breached rules on political impartiality, but the judge said that “in such a small politically polarised country it is difficult for the Budget not to have a political element, but it all depends on the degree.”

Madam Justice Hayman ruled that some “supposedly educational spots” could be done in a more “politically sensible manner” and that while every budget spot was political, “the dose must be controlled and balance must be respected.”

“An educational explanatory spot need not irritate the opponent in order to fulfil its purpose towards the public,” the judge said, noting that one sport including Prime Minister Robert Abela explaining a point “surely reaches undesirable levels.”

However, the court noted that the PN had more effective remedies it had taken up to counter the lack of balance it was aggrieved at, including action through the Broadcasting Authority which had resulted in an order for PBS to allocate 15 minutes of spots to the PN for it to share its own views with the party logo visible.

The court considered that the party had not managed to prove that it would suffer from a disproportionate prejudice if its court action was not accepted.

In a press conference after the decision was issued, Labour Party President Alex Sciberras said that the PN had attempted to gag the government from speaking about the budget. He said that the courts noted the importance of the people knowing about the budget since it shows the country’s direction and how wrong it was to take it out of context.

Sciberras said that in a democratic country, the budget should be explained and the PN’s court action wasn’t only damaging but more worryingly, “went against national interest”. He said that the “nation’s collective right” was attempted to be usurped despite the PN insisting on the importance of dialogue, good governance and the rule of law.

Sciberras said that the PN wanted to “shut the public’s ears” to the government and if the PN’s request was upheld, it would not only damage the Labour Party and the government but also the “people’s national interest”. He said that the time has come for the people to recognize the PN’s policy of “if I don’t win, I will ruin the game”. He added that not only are the people are fed up of this, but now the courts too have spoken.

On his part PL MP and Culture Minister Owen Bonnici said that if it were up to the PN, the people wouldn’t have seen informational slots on TV to raise awareness on the budgetary measures. He said that furthermore, they wanted people doing their jobs to have the threat of imprisonment “hanging over their heads.”

Bonnici said that the people have the right to follow such information which is “so important to the country’s administration”. He said that the PN has been caught in a “great hypocrisy” since the moment the same message was offered to be broadcast against payment on NET TV, it suddenly “became acceptable.”

Bonnici appealed to the PN to cease their prejudice against the workers of the PBS and he said that the government will keep on defending them. He said that the court’s decision is in favour of the citizen to receive information and “reaffirms the state’s obligation to explain the budget”. “The Opposition has ended up on the wrong side of history,” he concluded.