Govt’s notification unconstitutional, says CPNE
KARACHI: The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) President, Jameel Athar Qazi, along with Senior Vice President Qazi Asad Abid, Secretary General Illyas Shakir, Joint Secretary Javed Mehr Shamsi and Finance Secretary Mushtaq Ahmed Qureshi, in a joint announcement, expressed great concerns over the Cabinet Division’s notification issued to all federal and provincial ministries and divisions instructing them to prevent the media access to all the government information or those who don’t follow will face dire consequences and inquiries.
The CPNE office bearers further stated that access to government’s information was the constitutional right of the media and citizens of the country across the globe and this notification not only disbands this right and stands up against the Constitution, but this kind of act is even unimaginable in democratic countries.
They said the CPNE was anticipating from the government to pass an ordinance in the National Assembly to secure media access to information and fulfill its promises, as the current ordinance pertaining to the issue was nearing its term and would be rendered as ineffective soon. However, this newly-issued notification was a clear indication of the government’s intentions that it is least concerned to keeping its word. The CPNE office bearers demanded the government to withdraw this notification with immediate effect.
Source: The News
Date:7/14/2011
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