Watch: If Xarabank Was Still On, This Is What Tonight’s Episode Would Look Like
It’s been three years since Xarabank was pulled off the airwaves and Friday nights on Maltese TV haven’t been the same since, with entertainment shows replacing debate.
In an interview with Lovin Malta, Peppi Azzopardi – who hosted the show for 23 years – laid out what tonight’s episode of Xarabank would probably have looked like if it was still on air.
He said the show would definitely focus on the Vitals-Steward court of appeals ruling, and try to invite Prime Minister Robert Abela and Opposition Leader Bernard Grech for a debate, with their predecessors Joseph Muscat and Adrian Delia also contributing to the discussion.
More importantly, the general public will be invited to ask questions to leaders past and present.
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“They will be able to ask things like whether the reason they have been waiting four years for an operation is because of this €400 million,” Azzopardi said. “People will stand up and ask questions rooted in their own personal experience, rather than their opinions. So this ongoing challenge will be present, as well as the debate.”
Azzopardi said crowd participation was a crucial ingredient of Xarabank throughout the years, such as when PM Eddie Fenech Adami faced striking Dockyard workers and his successor Lawrence Gonzi faced workers of a factory that had closed down after he promised it would stay open.
“There is absolutely no comparison between what used to happen back then and what’s happening now. They don’t discuss these things nowadays,” he said.
“It doesn’t have to be Xarabank, it can be a completely different style of show but TVM should give space for people to speak to people in power, and say things such as ‘Prime Minister, my fridge is empty’. Where can they go nowadays to ask questions to the Prime Minister, the Opposition Leader, the Archbishop or other people in positions of power? Now there’s control on whoever is invited.”
This is part of a long interview that Peppi Azzopardi gave to Lovin Malta that touched on several topics, from politics, judicial reforms and education to migration, LGBT+ rights and the prison.
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