Perpetual motion

Peppi Azzopardi, presenter of the TV programme Xarabank, is known for the unorthodox views he holds about most things under the sun.

Natalino Fenech tries to ferret out what makes him tick.

I have always known you as Joe. Why the change of name?

I changed my name to Peppi because people were mistaking me for Joe Azzopardi who used to work at the environment ministry.

Once, by mistake, l-orizzont sent me a fax with a set of questions about sewage at Marsascala. I jokingly replied saying I did not know anything about sewage and neither had I anything to do with the sewage problem at Marsascala.

The following day, l-orizzont ran a poster story stating that "The government's arrogance is without limits. The Environment Minister does not care about the people of Marsascala".

That day, I phoned Joe Azzopardi and following a long discussion with him, I accepted to change my name.

You are in favour of gay marriage, the legalisation of drugs and against the concept of prison as a place of punishment. The majority do not agree with you, yet you are still voted the most popular TV presenter. How do you explain all this?

I feel people appreciate that those in the public arena speak their minds and say what they believe, rather than speaking in one way in private and another in public to avoid making enemies.

Don't you think legalising drugs could make the problem even worse?

First, I would like to declare that I have never touched illegal drugs. To me it is clear we are failing in the battle against drugs and the only decrease we are seeing is in the age of the abusers.

Many people and families are being crushed by this burden, because their habit is so expensive and they turn to crime to support their addiction.

It is a national scandal that people who undergo rehabilitation programmes at Caritas or Sedqa and kick the habit end up in prison because of pending drug-related court cases they might have.

The government should invest the money and resources it uses to catch drug abusers in prevention, information and educational programmes, even for those who choose to continue to abuse drugs.

Do you mean the police should stop investigating drug abusers? If drug addicts don't have a job, where else can they get the money?

Drug abusers can be pushers, but they do not sell drugs to get rich. They steal to pay Lm100 a day to keep poisoning themselves slowly. I do not consider them criminals or thieves. They indulge in crime because drugs are illegal. Drug addicts are sick people, and sick people should not be sent to prison.

Xarabank has been going for nine years. Don't you think it's time you did something new?

The succcess of Xarabank lies in the fact that it changes continuously. Xarabank has registered the highest audiences in every survey. This shows that though the programme has been broadcast for all this time, there is still a great demand for it. When audiences start to plunge, I would be the first to say stop. There are many other projects I'd like to do before I die!

What makes Xarabank more popular than any other genre?

Xarabank is the only programme on which people can say what they want without needing an invitation. People among the audience sit with experts and authorities. I think that the amount of time my coleagues and I invest in it contributes to its success. I always tell my team that we do not have a loyal audience and that the only person that I can guarantee will be seeing it is my mother. We have to work to convince the over 130,000 who see the programme.

What would you say if I were to tell you it's just another commercial programme?

It all depends on what you mean by commercial. If you tell me you need to be commercial and have adverts, then I will tell you you are right. Unless PBS gets advertising revenue, it can't afford to broadcast Xarabank. If you tell me we do everything possible to remain popular, than I would beg to differ. We are not prepared to do a Jerry Springer show to be more popular.

A lot a people come to us to expose their intimate stories and we advise them that to broadcast these stories would do them more harm than good. We seek professional advice when we deal with sensitive issues.

Xarabank is often criticised as being rowdy.

This is mere perception. I picked 10 editons of the programme at random and found that heated discussions amount to only eight per cent of those editions. It seems there are people who would like only professors and experts to engage in such duscussion and are not ready to accept that so-called common people can contribute to the discussion. On Xarabank, people behave better than some MPs do, especially during direct transmissions.

Why do you describe Xarabank as a journalistic programme. To me it belongs more to the entertainment genre.

Xarabank is what a Friday evening TV programme ought to be, with a mix of both. It is a journalistic programme because we have done programmes from Beslan, following the terrorist attacks there. We were in Palestine in the thick of the conflict, we were in America two days after the attack on the Twin Towers, we visited countries hit by the tsunami, we were in France following the Life Cycle, we had a live link with Jean Paul Mifsud from the Vatican when the Pope was critically ill. We spent six months investigating usury; two months following five students who were going to sit their Junior Lyceum exams... I can go on and on. Former EU enlargement commissioner Gunther Verheugen had told journalists after being on Xarabank that it was the hottest seat he was ever in since he's been in politics.

You were one of the few to declare publicly that Eddie Fenech Adami should become president. Do you still have that view?

Yes and I still believe he will be the best President Malta ever had. I admire him for his courage and the way he insists on what he believes in even though, at times, I do not agree with him.

I recall people saying Mrs Fenech Adami did not wish to become or was not cut out to be a First Lady. She took it in her stride and works from the heart. She works tirelessly as far as the Community Chest Fund is concerned. I know because I work very closely with her for l-Istrina. In spite of being the First Lady, she has kept her feet to the ground, without any pretentions.

"I accompanied her on visits to hospital in the UK before l-Istrina and she used to come with us to eat at the hospital canteens or to supermarkets. I used to ask the crew: "What would the cashier say if she knew this was Malta's First Lady?"

Lawrence Gonzi has been Prime Minister for a year and a half. What would you say about him?

I think he was a surprise for many who percieved him as soft and being in Dr Fenech Adami's shadow. When speaking to ministers, they all tell you that there's no way you could drag your feet with Dr Gonzi. For him, a deadline is a deadline and must be honoured. They told me you don't go to him with a problem but with a solution. I think he had the courage to tackle tough and sensitive issues that the Nationalist Party had to shelve because it wanted to persuade people to vote for EU membership.

I do not think the government is governing in an arrogant way, but it has a problem with communicating what it is doing and why it is doing it. And this amounts to arrogance.

Surveys by Xarabank shows the Nationalist Party is losing ground.

I rely on the Xarabank surveys because they had forecast the EU referendum and election results. According to our latest surveys, if the election were to be held now, the PN would definitely lose.

But the strange fact is that according to these same surveys, people trust Dr Gonzi more than they do Alfred Sant. Thus the Labour Party cannot be so sure it will win the next election.

Another factor to bear in mind is that people are saying what they would do when in fact they know there will not be an election any time soon. I do not know how people would respond if the election were close. If the MLP had someone like George Abela as leader, the PN might as well not contest. I dare say that the party winning the next election would win with a very narrow margin of about 2,000 votes.

Does Xarabank have an agenda?

Most definitely. It strives to give a voice to the underdogs in society. We are biased in favour of these people. But we do not have a partisan agenda. In fact, in nine years on air, Xarabank has never been found guilty of political imbalance. We have never been sued for libel or found guilty of slandering anyone. We do not allege things. We discuss and prove, if need be.

Are you a workaholic?

Yes, but I am trying to recover from this malady and I believe I am improving. Being a workaholic is not a virtue. It's a very serious disease that devastates you and your family. This was going to happen to me last year. I realise today, how fortunate I am to have a family and I would like to find more time to spend and enjoy together.

Which was your most embarrassing moment?

Once during a meeting about a programme we were having with a prominent politician, I had to forward a reply to him. So I sent him an sms. After that I sent one to my wife Mandy saying "I love you and can't live without you". Then I realised I had sent the message to the poltician instead. First I wanted to die, then I laughed as I imagined how the person at the other end was trying to make out the meaning behind the message I had sent him.

What's your motto?

Keep your feet on the ground, but keep them moving.