The Nationalist Party has filed a complaint with the Broadcasting Authority, claiming imbalance in PBS reporting.

In its protest, the party said that the public broadcaster had not covered a press conference which Opposition leader Bernard Grech held on Tuesday following the Prime Minister’s reply to the 2022 Budget in Parliament.

By contrast, one day prior PBS had broadcast a reaction that Prime Minister Robert Abela gave to Grech's own speech in parliament. In that reaction, Abela had described Grech's budget 2022 reply as "negative" and factually incorrect.

In its letter to the Broadcasting Authority, the PN said that it had flagged PBS' failure to report Grech's reaction on Tuesday night to the station's head of news, Norma Saliba. 

PN general secretary Michael Piccinino wrote that Saliba had told the party that it was "not the usual practice" to broadcast the Opposition's reply. "With all due respect, it is the Opposition's prerogative to decide how to put out its message," Piccinino wrote. 

"By the same token, if the government decides to hold a large number of press conferences, then the public broadcaster would be able to start deciding which to attend and report, and which to ignore," he added. 

The party said that PBS was breaching impartiality rules in local broadcasting laws and said it wanted the broadcaster to report Grech's press conference at the soonest possible instance.