Azzopardi told Lovin Malta that this could constitute a crime of misappropriation as well as the illegal state financing of a political party.

The entire Cabinet was already placed under criminal investigation for misuse of public funds to promote their personal social media pages two years ago as part of an ongoing magisterial inquiry.

Moreover, it breached guidelines published last year by Standards Commissioner George Hyzler which state that ministers shouldn’t use public funds to engage in blatant self-promotion.

While Azzopardi’s allegation hasn’t been confirmed, it wouldn’t be the first time the government has used public funds to channel money to the Labour Party via its media platforms.

Earlier this year, 17 ministries took out ads for a special edition of the PL’s Sunday newspaper KullĦadd which marked the two-year anniversary since Robert Abela’s election as Prime Minister.

The lack of transparency by party media is one of the reasons Lovin Malta filed a court case that challenges the constitutionality of political broadcasting on political party media.

The constitutional case challenges a proviso in the law that effectively allows ONE and NET to bypass their constitutional obligations for impartiality on the grounds that their political coverage balances each other out.

A website, Kaxxaturi.com, has also been set up to explain the details of the case and why Lovin Malta decided to open it in the first place.

Cover photo: Active Ageing Minister Jo Etienne Abela on an episode of Espresso this week 

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