The Labour Party on Tuesday condemned yet another manoeuvre by the Nationalist Party which raises serious questions about how genuinely it believes in freedom of expression.

This time, through a parliamentary question filed by Nationalist MP Justin Schembri, the Nationalist Party chose to attack the political expression of individuals who hold public roles.

This is not an isolated incident, but forms part of a series of recent positions and actions by the Nationalist Party targeting people who work in the media or publicly express their views, the PL said.

Just days ago, the Nationalist Party filed constitutional proceedings against the Public Broadcasting Services and the Broadcasting Authority, in which it also chose to focus on the public expression of a presenter on the national broadcaster.

Prior to this, Opposition Leader Alex Borg said that he agrees with the idea ofintroducing warrants for journalists. The proposal was strongly opposed by the Institute of Maltese Journalists, which warned that such a system could make the profession less accessible and undermine media pluralism, the PL said.

These actions make clear the contradiction between what the Nationalist Party says and what it does: while it speaks at length about freedom of expression, it repeatedly places under pressure and political scrutiny people who express views with which it disagrees.

The PL said will continue to defend freedom of expression as a fundamental democratic principle and will continue to condemn any attempt to restrict the space for free expression in our country.