The broadcasting watchdog has upheld a PN complaint about "imbalance and impartiality" caused by statements by Helena Dalli during a live TVM broadcast of Myriam Spiteri Debono’s swearing-in as President.

Speaking on TVM on April 4, during the inauguration of the President, the European Commissioner said it was not right that Joseph Muscat-era ministers had been blocked from the presidency. That decision, she said, had been unfair on “certain people”.

“People were accused of having blood on their hands because they were in cabinet in a particular period in Maltese history,” Dalli said, as another former minister and EU Commissioner, Karmenu Vella, looked on.

It is an open secret within political circles that Dalli, whose term in Brussels ends this year, was among the frontrunners to become Malta’s next head of state.

The PN filed a complaint on April 7, saying Dalli's comments undermined the spirit of National Unity Day.

The station's editor-in-chief Charles Dalli reacted, saying TVM had sought a politically mature discussion, and not a partisan one. 

In its decision on the matter, the BA acknowledged the "politically controversial" nature of Dalli's comments, saying her remarks should have been challenged to ensure balance during the same broadcast. 

The BA upheld the PN's complaint.