PEMRA (Amendment) Bill could not sail through Senate

ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) (Amendment) Bill, 2020, aimed at protecting employment of media persons, Monday could not sail through Senate due to opposition.

Faisal Javed moved the bill in the house as reported by the Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting.

Speaking on the occasion, Faisal Javed said the bill was unanimously passed by the committee after detailed discussion.

The bill was nothing to do with freedom of the press rather it was only related with the media workers employment, he added. He said the committee had also taken on board all stakeholders about the bill.

He urged the opposition to support the bill as it came in house for the second time.

Sherry Rehman of the PPP said the bill was opposed by the Pervaiz Rashid in the committee. She said PEMRA was a regulator and it would provide another tool to twist the arms of media.

Raza Rabbani of the PPP while opposing the bill said the intention of Faisal Javed was correct but its procedure was questionable.

He said the PEMRA was a regulator and all governments used it for imposing restriction on the media.

Mohsin Aziz of the PTI said the bill was discussed twice in the committee and there was no dissenting note. He said the house should pass the bill as it only pertained to the employment of media workers.

Leader of the House in Senate Dr Shahzad Waseem said we should think above the party line and it was a great effort of Faisal Javed for protection of media workers’ rights. He requested the House to pass the bill.

Mushtaq Ahmed of the JI suggested that the bill should again refer to the standing committee so it could be refined further.

Khushbakht Shujaat of the MQM said detailed discussion was carried out on the bill in the committee by members of all parties. She said it was a good initiative and it was nothing to do with the freedom of press.

Meanwhile, the House passed the Pakistan Environmental Protection (Amendment) Bill, 2020. The bill was piloted by Senator Faisal Javed in the house.

Moreover, the chair referred back the National Highways Safety (Amendment) Bill, 2020 to the committee concerned.