Information Ordinance’ to be made as reasonable as possible
SLAMABAD- The government would try to make the draft of ‘Freedom of Information Ordinance 2000′ as reasonable as it can be made, with the incorporation of as many suggestions and views already expressed and are being expressed at different forums.
This assurance was held out by the Minister for Information and Media Development, Javed Jabbar, while summing up the discussion. The subject under discussion was the Promotion of Access to Information in Pakistan’. The discussion was held under the auspices of SPARC and Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung, two non-governmental organisations operating in Pakistan.
Following the promulgation of the ordinance, a campaign has been launched to ascertain the views of the people at different levels with the aim to arrive at a consensus on the issue of access to information guaranteed through law.
It would be interesting to note that there are only 14 countries in the world where Freedom of information law exists. In Pakistan, a number of attempts have been made, since the 1980s, but except one successful attempt and that too, for a period of three months only, all efforts in this behalf failed. The previous government did not transform the Ordinance promulgated by the interim government into law and it lapsed after three months with the coming in of the new government. No attempt was made by the previous government to formulate any law on the subject. The present government has, however, put before the nation the draft of the law, which after consultations, dialogue and seminar would be finalized by the end of this year.
It is also worth noting that the freedom of information and access to it is a bone of contention between the government and the people. The people have been trying to seek information. especially the press, but the government, one way or the other, has been trying to suppress information. The newsman, somehow or other, get hold of certain pieces of information which are printed as well as used clandestinely. The tussle is going on, but one thing is clear that there would be no free for all for access to information as no government can afford to divulge all to the people.
Javed, said that the draft law is the result of collective effort of the Cabinet, and the Law Ministry should not be taken as the sole author of the draft. “I accept the responsibility for the draft law, being the Minister for information,” he declared.
He also said that the draft law is part of the agenda of change, which the Chief Executive announced when he took over. He added that there was no pressure on the government to enforce such a law. “It has been brought about as part of the change in the status quo which this government is trying to bring about. It is not a measure to maintain the status quo but a step to change it. The government is determined to change the status quo and even, action we are taking is in that direction,” he declared adding: “Isn’t it a change in the status quo that “we cleared the newspapers’ bills worth Rs 170 million?” He said that this was done in spite of the fact that the country is facing financial crisis.
He emphasised that there could not be total consensus on different issues. “There would always be differences of opinion but efforts should be made to narrow down the differences. The nation wide campaign on the information law is an attempt towards that end. We want to benefit from the views of all concerned so as to harmonise them with the view of the Establishment.” the minister said.
Javed Jabbar said that the issue of classified information was becoming mow and more complex. In the developed countries, including the United States of America, information is being classified on an increasing scale. The governments tend to keep information classified but the demand for more and more information keeps on growing.
Appreciating the level of discussion and the points raised as well as the suggestions, the Information Minister said “I agree, in principle, that this law needs significant improvements and I can promise that the suggestions would be considered and, if found suitable, would be incorporated in the final draft”. He said Pakistan is already in some ways “information rich” and in many ways it is “information poor.”
The minister raised a pertinent question relating to the print media. “Why is it so that the print media is not keeping its activities transparent? Why the newspapers have never published their balance sheets? Have they ever disclosed how many workers they are employing are on contract basis and how many on permanent pay roll? If the print media is insisting on the access to information be made transparent why should it not make its activities open?” He held out the assurance that “this government does not believe in draconian laws” and would never tread on this path.
Earlier, the panel of speakers which included Anis Jilani, Farhat Hussain, Hamid Mir, Ziauddin, I.A Rahman and Resident Representative of Friendrich Naumann Stiftung (FNS) talked about different aspects of access to information and the draft ordinance.
They said that it should be remembered that access to information “is our right” and amendments should be made in the fundamental rights clause of the constitution ensuring this right. They opined that there would be less chances of corruption with maximum access to information. The real issue is to get the right and true information, they contended. Being the citizens of Pakistan, an Islamic state, the FNS resident representative observed, the citizens have all the rights to have information. Democracy without information is meaningless, he opined and said that the freedom to information in the ordinance has been limited. He, however, said that the issue of national security is something, which should be given due importance when information is sought in this regard.
It was further argued that if access to information is a right then it should be conceded as a right and not as charity. The real test of access to information would begin when the final draft of the proposed law is put before the nation. It was pointed out that the real obstacle in the way of obtaining information is bureaucracy and it has drafted the ordinance in such a manner that instead of allowing access to information, it has been restricted to a great extent. Therefore, the name of the ordinance should be changed from ‘Freedom of Information to Limited Access to Information’.
The panelists also drew the attention of the minister to the draft of the APNS on the subject and requested him to go through it so as to arrive at a rational position. For instance, no demand has been made in APNS draft for information concerning the armed forces. Similarly, no demand has been made for information about questions relating to the security of the country. Also, nothing has been mentioned about the contempt of court.
It was suggested that the time limit for the provision of information should not be more than three days, and the official concerned for the supply of information should be clearly mentioned.
Source: Business Recorder
Date:10/1/2000
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