ISLAMABAD: The opposition alliance – Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM) Friday, rejected the government’s proposed Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA), and announced to boycott the joint sitting of the Parliament scheduled for Monday to be addressed by President Dr Arif Alvi.
The PDM announced this after a meeting of its steering committee, attended by PML-N’s Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, Ahsan Iqbal, Marriyum Aurangzeb; JUI-F’s Maulana Fazlur Rehman, Akram Khan Durrani, Hafiz Hamdullah; QaumiWatan Party chief Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao; Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party chief Mahmood Khan Achakzai, and chief of his own faction of JUP Owais Noorani.
Talking to reporters after the meeting, PDM spokesperson Hafiz Hamdullah said that the PDM stands with journalists and media organisations, adding that it will continue to stand by the media in their fight for freedom of speech. He said that the PDM rejected the government’s proposed PMDA, adding that “it is, in fact, a media control authority”.
Sherry asks why govt ‘hiding’ draft PMDA bill
Referred to statements by government ministers including by Minister for Railways Azam Swati during a discussion on the electoral reforms in a parliamentary panel, he said that what had happened during the meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Parliamentary Affairs was “non-parliamentary” and “undemocratic”.
“Babar Awan and Azam Swati have insulted the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP)and the Parliament,” he maintained, adding that the PDM has decided to issue a “white paper” against the government to “expose the government’s dark deeds and failures.” He said Swati had remarked that the ECP must be “set on fire”, adding that the government ministers sought to take the state institutions “hostage”. “This government wants to control institutions through threats,” he maintained.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
Comments
Comments are closed for this article.