PN councillors to 'boycott' culture ceremony over 'government censorship'
The Opposition said its spokesperson for local government Bernice Bonello had been removed from the list of speakers
Nationalist Party councillors are planning on boycotting today's opening of the Port Region’s cultural programme for this year amid claims of government “censorship”.
In a statement Sunday morning, the PN said its councillors would not attend the Region of Culture opening ceremony after Opposition spokesperson for local government Bernice Bonello was “removed” from the list of speakers by the government.
Bonello said earlier on Facebook that “an order was issued by the Government that the Opposition should be excluded from the speakers’ programme” had been issued on Wednesday evening after she was invited to speak at the ceremony.
She described the removal as an “attempt to silence me and the Opposition”, while emphasising the autonomy of local government.
The PN said the government’s actions stood in “stark contrast” to ceremonies held during the Nationalists’ time in office, when it said it always invited Labour representatives to take part in local council ceremonies.
“Despite the fine words of the Labour government... [it] has still not understood that local councils are not government departments that it can control at will,” the party said.
The Nationalist Party said its councillors expressed solidarity with Bonello while extending support to the Port Region’s cultural activities for this year.
The statement was signed by PN councillors Roberta Bonello Felice, Leone Sciberras and Mark Lombardo.
Plans to hold the ceremony this morning in various locations across the Port Region – comprising Valletta, the Three Cities, Fgura, Floriana, Paola, Tarxien, Xgħajra and Żabbar – were called off due to adverse weather conditions.
The regional council said on Facebook that the programme would be announced “during a formal ceremony on Sunday afternoon”.