Govt, PBA reach consensus on e-media code of conduct | Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF)

Pakistan Press Foundation

Govt, PBA reach consensus on e-media code of conduct

Pakistan Press Foundation

ISLAMABAD: The government and the Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) have reached consensus on all points for a code of conduct for the electronic media and soon a summary will be sent to the prime minister for approval.

Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on National Affairs Irfan Siddiqui said this while taking to APP here.Siddiqui said the PBA had played a responsible role in finalising the code of conduct draft by attending many meetings.

Deliberations on each point and word of the code of conduct were thoroughly made in the meetings before reaching the consensus draft.Siddiqui said Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif had constituted a committee, comprising representatives of PBA, APNS and CPNE, for finalising the code of conduct.

The negotiations process remained suspended due to the difference of opinion between the two sides on some points at the initial stage. But the Supreme Court during hearing of a writ, filed by journalists Hamid Mir and Absar Alam, issued orders to the government and the PBA on June 12 to sit together and complete the process for a code of conduct.

The government and the PBA resumed negotiations in the light of the apex court directives and reached consensus after several meetings.Replying to a question, Irfan Siddiqui said the PBA had proposed valuable suggestions besides playing a positive role for reaching a consensus draft for the code of conduct which has been placed before the Supreme Court.

Both sides have some reservations about only three points which have been sorted out.Irfan Siddiqui said the draft was ready and it would be implemented after the approval of the prime minister.

He said the PBA and the government were still in touch because the former had some reservations about the implementation mechanism of the code of conduct.The Pemra and the government would address the PBA reservations with an open heart, he said and added a fresh round of talks could be started on the implementation mechanism after Eid.

He said the government believed in the freedom of expression and the code of conduct was also aimed at creating a balance between the freedom of expression and responsibility.He said several attempts were made in the past to reach consensus on the code of conduct for the electronic media but they failed.

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