Shehbaz, Bilawal slam PMDA, pledge to back media struggle

KARACHI: PMLN President and Leader of the Opposition in the National Assembly Shehbaz Sharif and PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto have come down hard on the proposed Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) and pledged to oppose this black law on the floor of parliament by joining hands with all the political parties.

Speaking at the Mazar-e-Quaid after a meeting with the leaders of media organisations, Shehbaz strongly rejected the PMDA and said the PMLN will do its best to repel the government’s efforts to legislate the PMDA. He said this legislation was a matter of life and death for the media, independent journalism, democracy and basic freedom guaranteeed by the Constitution.

The meeting was attended by officials of the All Pakistan Newspapers Society, Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors, representatives of Pakistan Broadcasters Association, Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors. It was also attended by officials of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and Karachi Union of Journalists.

Shehbaz assured that the PMLN will deliberate on this issue within their party in the light of the views shared by media bodies’ leaders and will take the joint opposition into confidence as well. He said a consultative meeting of representatives of joint opposition and media organisations will also be held in this regard.

Shehbaz said no party in parliament except the government will support this black law. He said it was a sensitive issue and maybe someone from the government benches would also oppose the proposed law in parliament on the call of their conscience. He expressed the hope that it is possible to block the passage of this black law in the Senate.

Shehbaz said the way Imran Niazi has been imposing restrictions on the media over the past three years, the country has turned into an object of disrepute and ridicule all over the world. He said the PML-N had condemned media restrictions imposed by the Imran government and the party will join the voice of journalists in the media struggle. He stressed that the PMLN will do all it can, and more, to stop this black law from becoming a law.

These restrictions have been unprecedented and have cost jobs and livelihoods of thousands of media persons over the past three years, he said. This is all the more ironic because Imran was the media favorite while he was in the opposition.

Separately, PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also strongly criticised the attempts to silence the media and usurp the freedom of independence of thought and expression. He said the Human Rights Watch has castigated the constraints, which the government is hell bent to legislate in the garb of proposed PMDA law. He said the HRW advice and suggestions to do away with the media curbs being pedalled so vigorously by the PTI government must be adhered to. He said the PPP has always championed the media liberties and will continue to back the journalist community in its struggle to uphold the independent media. The media workers are planning to hold a protest against the draconian curbs at parliament and we will fully support them.

The PPP chairman said we opposed the law in parliament as it violates the very fabric of law and the basic rights enshrined in the Constitution. The curbs against the freedom of expression cannot be tolerated, he added.