ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) has decided to form a committee of the joint opposition to stop the PTI government from establishing the “black law” of the Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA).

According to a statement issued here by party spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb, the committee would analyse the legal and other facets of the bill and would chalk out a strategy.

She said that the PML-N president and opposition leader in the National Assembly, Shehbaz Sharif, chaired an important consultative meeting of the party regarding the PMDA.

She said that it was decided in the meeting that the party would use all means and platforms to block the existence of this draconian body that seeks to gag media freedoms.

She said that Shehbaz shared with party leaders, his in-depth consultation with the leaders of the media bodies.

Shehbaz said that all representative bodies of media had out-rightly rejected the PMDA.

She said that the PML-N president said that none of the stakeholders were consulted over the so-called bill and no proposals or perspectives were sought.

Representative bodies of the media were kept out of the entire decision making process, Shehbaz said, adding that this was because the government was not looking to legislate with a progressive mindset but was bent on subjugation of Pakistan’s news media.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021