• May 20, 2021
• General News
• Web Desk

The inability of the parliament to get along and cooperate on important bipartisan matters has cost the public inordinate delays of many useful potential laws. The Journalists’ Protection Bill, legislation aimed to prevent violence against journalists, runs the risk of suffering the same fate, as this bill, which should have been passed already, was delayed because of unimportant personal altercations between parliamentarians.

The opposition introduced the ‘Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Bill, 2021’, in the National Assembly session, which caused offence to Human Rights Minister Dr Shireen Mazari, who blamed the opposition MNA for plagiarising content of her drafted bill.

The four-hour-long proceedings of the house, which mostly consumed time on legislation, ended up being adjourned by the chair due to lack of required quorum, concluding this session to be a waste of time, as no bills ended up being passed, and the fate of three presidential ordinances remains ambiguous.

It is unfortunate that what could have been an issue where the government and the opposition find common ground has instead become a source of conflict. Both sides need to sort their priorities—the cause of concern should be the protection of journalists, not which party should get credit and what the political optics are.

The opposition should have consulted this matter with the government instead of highlighting this issue through a private member bill, and the government could have used the help of women PPP members who tabled the bill, who have a history of introducing human rights-related legislation.

This bill has already been unnecessarily delayed. It took two and a half years for preparing the bill and it is an issue all parties are more or less on board with. Since the government has been publicly highlighting work on this bill, the opposition needs to put aside its differences and help the government in improving the bill—it should not be left gathering dust for any longer.

Newspaper:  The Nation (Editorial)