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3 maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 30 SEPTEMBER 2026 NEWS ing to the PN, the BA maintained its position. The party also refers to a February 2023 Constitution- al Court judgment which found that the BA has a positive duty to protect the PN's freedom of ex- pression. The PN argues that this means the authority should ac- tively monitor PBS and ensure po- litical balance rather than simply wait for a political party to com- plain every time it believes a par- ticular broadcast is unbalanced. Impartiality of public broadcaster presenters A second major part of the con- stitutional case concerns the rules requiring presenters of public-ser- vice news and current affairs pro- grammes to remain impartial. The PN focuses extensively on Ricky Debates producer and pre- senter Ricky Caruana. However, the party specifically states that Caruana himself is not a party to the court case and it is not ask- ing the court to make a judgment against him personally. Instead, the PN says it is using his public conduct as an example of what it claims is a wider failure by PBS to enforce its own impartiality rules. The PN refers to broadcasting regulations governing present- ers and reporters working on public-service news and current affairs programmes. Put simply, those rules require presenters to appear politically impartial. Among other things, they restrict presenters from publicly declaring how they vote or supporting a po- litical party, publicly taking sides on government policies that are the subject of political debate, or taking a position on major public controversies. Importantly, these particular rules are supposed to be applied by the public broadcaster itself rather than enforced directly by the BA. The PN cites a number of Caru- ana's social-media posts which it claims raise questions under those rules. These include videos published in November 2025 and January 2026 concerning Project Green projects in Bengħajsa, San- ta Luċija and Minden Grove in Ta' Qali. The PN argues that the vide- os promoted government projects and therefore amounted to taking a position on government public policy. It also refers to content involving government ministers, including material filmed during house visits. According to the ap- plication, Caruana said publicly in January 2026 that people had encouraged him to contest the general election on the Labour Party ticket and thanked those who believed he could represent their needs. The PN also refers to a video uploaded on 31 October 2025 in which Caruana allegedly said he would "almost have to vote Labour". The application also refers to a lengthy December 2024 inter- view with former prime minister Joseph Muscat. The PN alleges that during the interview Caruana repeatedly encouraged Muscat to consider returning to active poli- tics and framed questions around Labour remaining in government. The application also points to PBS's decision to retain Carua- na in its new television schedule. It says that despite the conduct complained about by the PN, PBS announced that Caruana would present another TVM programme, Wara l-Ħdax ma' RICKY, from October 2026. Ac- cording to the PN, Caruana had himself publicly stated that he did not want to continue with the programme but PBS insisted that he remain with the public broad- caster. The party argues that this is significant because, in its view, PBS did not simply fail to take action over past conduct but sub- sequently chose to retain him as a presenter. Payments by government entities The PN also relies on a separate rule concerning outside work car- ried out by people who produce public-service news and current affairs programmes. The rule states that producers should not have outside interests or commitments which could damage the public broadcaster's reputation for impartiality, fair- ness and integrity. The PN alleges that Caruana has publicly stated that he is paid by government ministries and public entities to promote their work, projects and initiatives. The party argues that this could create a conflict of interest. Its argument is that a person producing and presenting a cur- rent affairs programme could be paid by a ministry or govern- ment entity to promote its work while ministers from those same entities, or policies connected to them, could later become subjects of interviews or discussions on his programme. Again, the PN is asking the court to consider this as evidence of what it says is PBS's failure to properly enforce its impartiality rules, rather than seeking a per- sonal judgment against Caruana. The application also alleges that Caruana actively promoted the Labour Party during the campaign leading to the 30 May 2026 gener- al election. It refers to his presence and coverage of Labour activities in Żebbuġ on 16 May, Mqabba on 17 May and Gozo on 19 May, including events involving min- isters Silvio Schembri and Clint Camilleri and former prime min- ister Joseph Muscat. The PN also identifies posts concerning Prime Minister Robert Abela published on 9, 11, 24 and 30 May, the last of those being election day itself. The party argues that this activi- ty should be considered in light of the rules requiring public-service current affairs presenters to ap- pear impartial. The PN says the guidelines make clear that the im- partiality rules do not apply only while someone is physically pre- senting a programme. They also cover activity on social media. PN seeks damages and court intervention The PN is asking the court to declare that the BA failed to fulfil its constitutional and legal obli- gations to ensure proper political impartiality and a fair distribution of broadcasting time between po- litical parties. The party is separately asking the court to declare that PBS failed to provide balanced and im- partial news coverage and created or maintained a systematic imbal- ance against the Opposition. The PN claims these alleged fail- ures breached its right to freedom of expression under Article 41 of the Constitution and Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights. It is also claiming political discrimination under Ar- ticle 45 of the Constitution and Article 14 of the European Con- vention when read together with Article 10. The party further alleges that it was denied an effective remedy. It is therefore asking the court to order whatever measures are necessary to correct the alleged imbalance and prevent it from continuing. The PN is also seek- ing both pecuniary and non-pe- cuniary damages, together with interest and any other remedy the court considers appropriate. The PN has indicated that it intends to summon a number of witnesses as the case proceeds. These include officials from PBS and the Broad- casting Authority, people work- ing or previously working within PBS's newsroom and editorial structures, PBS presenters includ- ing Caruana, government minis- ters from the current and previous legislatures, and PN officials. The constitutional application is signed by lawyers David Bonello, Michael Piccinino and Thomas de Martino. In a comment on the steps of the courthouse after filing the consti- tutional case, PN Secretary-gen- eral Charles Bonello explained said: "We want to keep fighting so that national broadcasting is truly balanced broadcasting… The law requires balance on public policy. When a minister is quoted an- nouncing policy and no reaction is carried, PBS is breaching the Constitution." With contribution from Juliana Zammit of failing impartiality rules, citing 532 sound bites against 66 for Opposition Photo: James Bianchi/MaltaToday)

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