AD determined to insist on balance in broadcasting

Alternattiva Demokratika will be filing a constitutional case unless immediate steps were taken by the Broadcasting Authority to ensure balance in every television station.

AD chairman Harry Vassallo told a news conference there was a continuous breach of the Constitution when it came to broadcasting with the BA "absurdly" accepting arguments that one party station would balance the other. How could this be when there were three parties in Malta and one of them did not own a television station, he asked.

Dr Vassallo said that AD did not take action earlier because of the EP electoral campaign.

He pointed out that a European Parliament report was being drawn up on broadcasting in Europe. Although this had not yet studied the situation in the new member states, it had pointed out the anomalies in Italy where the Prime Minister was a shareholder in an influential broadcasting company. The report would surely find bigger anomalies in Malta with the political parties owning their own television stations. A full report, he said, was expected in July.

Dr Vassallo said that when the BA had issued an application for television licenses recently, AD applied for a license as it could not do otherwise.

The authority was expected to announce the new licensee in May but it had not yet done so. If AD got the licence, it would work to bring to shame the other party stations by having a real public television, he promised.

The news conference was held to announce a street party - The Green Rasberry - in Republic Street, Valletta tomorrow from 7 p.m. The party will feature Owen Jay, Scream Daisy and DJ Job, who will be accompanied by the independent candidate in the EP elections, Cecil Herbert Jones.

AD, Dr Vassallo said, will be celebrating a growth of 1,300 per cent at the polls - which it could not repeat unless there was an increase in the population.

He thanked all those who voted AD saying these had taken the opportunity to make a statement which changed the face of politics in Malta. Political parties now had to respect voters more as these had shown they were capable of changing their minds.

AD candidate Arnold Cassola also thanked the 6,000 voters who did not give him their first preference but gave him another preference in spite of the fear that had been instilled in them by their party.

Prof. Cassola said that had more Nationalist voters given him their ninth preference, the fifth seat would have been his. But, he added, the PN voters who gave him no preference whatsoever gave the third seat to Labour.

He pointed out that Malta would probably be getting its sixth seat in the EP, a seat the AD had worked for and which had originally been renounced by the Nationalist government at the Copenhagen summit.

If Malta got this seat, it did not mean he would be going to the EP automatically as the EU constitution had to be ratified and this was no mean feat. At the earliest, ratification would take until 2007. Once the constitution was ratified, AD would be able to occupy Malta's sixth seat, a seat it deserved. In the meantime, he would continue working for Malta as secretary of the European Greens, Prof. Cassola said adding that AD had also proved itself to be the fourth most popular Green Party in EU countries.

Dr Vassallo said the EP election result highlighted the need to change Malta's electoral system. It was not just AD which had an interest in changing this system; the MLP had also been complaining that the way districts were drawn up put it in a disadvantage.

He said he expected parties to discuss changes to the electoral system and to involve AD in these talks.

Dr Vassallo also said that AD would not be making any claim on the votes it was given. "We won't take anyone who voted for us for granted. The same people who voted for us this time will penalise us if we start treating them in the same way they were treated by the MLP and the PN," he said.