Media.Link, the Nationalist Party’s media wing, has not been fined for filing official accounts for more than 15 years, PN Deputy Leader for Party Affairs Robert Arrigo has confirmed. However, he insists that neither have their opposites in the Labour Party, One TV.

The last accounts filed by Media.Link were in 2003/2004; for One Productions in 2010. Sources have said they are mired in financial difficulty.

Speaking in an interview with Lovin Malta, Arrigo said that Media Link was struggling financially, but would recover soon.

“We were losing about a million a year, which is far too much. Now this year we have managed to put down that loss to €400,000. Hopefully, by next year we will be at a zero-level. Again there were a lot of costs and restructuring has to be done,” he said.

However, he maintained that political party media has a future, despite some, including members of his party, saying that the “end is nigh” for the platforms.

“Both lose money and have lost money because the model hasn’t changed in 20 years,” he said, insisting restructuring was the way forward, not shutting them down.

Companies are obliged to keep proper accounting records and to deliver a copy of their annual accounts, along with an auditors’ and directors’ report, every single year. The maximum penalties for failing to submit the account are €2,329.37 annually and €46.59 per day. It is the registrar who decides the fine.

Publishing accountancy records provide crucial information to shareholders and the public, while also guaranteeing a small degree of financial transparency. It would be even more important for political parties to do so given the vested interest of powerful lobby groups and wealthy benefactors.

Prime Minister Robert Abela has vowed to address the Labour Party’s failure to file official accounts, as have the Nationalist Party.

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