Speaking at a Press Conference, Dr Harry Vassallo, Chairperson of Alternattiva Demokratika, said that his party will be applying for a television broadcasting license shortly.

“On several occasions the Broadcasting Authority has responded to our complaints about the unconstitutional imbalance in broadcasting by stating that a television license would be issued to Alternattiva Demokratika if it applied for one” Dr Vassallo said. “The political parties who control the Broadcasting Authority have shown no sign of ever relinquishing their media empires and consequently we are constrained to restore the balance in broadcasting by applying for a license ourselves”.

“However we intend to set an example by utilizing our license not only to secure our legitimate space in the media but also to give voice to civil society in a way which is not presently available” Dr Vassallo said. “Malta boasts of a great wealth of non-political organizations in every possible sphere which deserve to be known, to be assisted through publicity given to their public service.”

“We also propose to provide a reliable, authoritative and independent news service and a forum for public debate which respects the intelligence of viewers and participants” Dr Vassallo said. “In order to achieve this, a station operator, separate and distinct from the party, will be engaged under clear terms to be known to the public. While AD will bear ultimate legal responsibility for broadcasts under the license, it is not our aim to inflict upon the Maltese viewing public yet another vehicle for partisan propaganda” Dr Vassallo said.

“The station operator will be selected following the issue of a call for tenders by Alternattiva Demokratika” Dr Vassallo said. “The criteria of the tender will be designed to secure the quality broadcasting service we hope to provide to all television viewers in Malta” Dr Vassallo added.

“In applying for this license we acknowledge that the political evolution of the other parties has not reached the stage where they can trust one another sufficiently to rely on impartial and effective regulation of the sector by a truly independent Broadcasting Authority regulating commercial stations and the state broadcaster alone. We certainly have no reason to rely on them to be fair” Dr Vassallo said. “However we shall continue to work towards such a development in future and to this end we propose to have an investment structure which will allow us to withdraw from broadcasting as a political party as soon as this is required of us” Dr Vassallo said.