The Labour Party has written to the chairmen of the Broadcasting Authority and Public Broadcasting Service, demanding balance and impartiality from the tax-funded state public broadcaster.

Labour spokesman for the media Gino Cauchi claimed the state broadcaster broke the law on several occasions. Quoting answers to parliamentary questions, he said it emerged that over the three years between 2008 and 2010, for example, the Prime Minister was featured in the news 490 times while the opposition leader appeared 265 times.

He said these and other figures showed the “premeditated and subtle imbalance” Labour had suffered.

But in reaction, PBS said the statistics quoted showed the opposite of what Labour was claiming. As was stated in the answers to the parliamentary questions, the TVM news included newsworthy stories and those who appeared in them did so because they were somehow involved.

PBS also insisted that in the last four years, in which more than 1,500 news bulletins featured, TVM was never found guilty of political imbalance against Labour.

But Mr Cauchi said: “It is clear that from now to the elections, there is a plan for the state broadcaster to be used as a means of propaganda in the hands of the Nationalist Party.”

He called on the BA to be proactive and not wait for a complaint to take action.