CPNE asks government to issue text of press laws
ISLAMABAD- The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) has asked the government to release texts of the ordinances relating to press council and press laws as approved by the cabinet on August 31.
In a statement issued here Monday, Jamil Athar, acting President of the CPNE, Zahid Malik, Vice President and Mahmudul Aziz, Secretary General, viewed immediate release of the text of the ordinances as necessary because there are some deviations from the texts of the laws agreed to between the government and the representative bodies of the Press.
They regretted that the government did not seek comments of the CPNE before finalisation of the defamation laws that have far-reaching implications for the press community. They also emphasised that without the access to information laws, the promulgation of defamation laws in haste will cause impediments to the functioning of the press.
“While we endorse what federal Information Minister Nisar A. Memon has described in his press briefing on August 31 as the necessity of media reforms, a formal response of the editors’ body to the press laws can be given only after due consideration of the final texts of the ordinances, as approved by the cabinet.”
Source: Business Recorder
Date:9/3/2002
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