Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President and Speaker Punjab Assembly Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi Sunday advised Prime Minister Imran Khan to beware of his advisers whom he blamed for causing a rift between the government and the media.
In a statement, Pervaiz said he had been tasked by the prime minister with resolving the issues between the media houses and the government related to the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA).
The PML-Q leader said freedom of expression was the beauty of democracy. He also expressed concerns over the reported withholding of advertisements of some newspapers and TV channels, saying it was beyond him as to why the government was targeting certain media houses, says a news report.
He said it seemed as though the bar on advertisements was imposed in the context of PECA, adding that government advertisements were public money and should not be used to target specific newspapers and channels.
He said it was also surprising to note that some of the PTI members had reportedly been barred by the party from appearing in programmes of some TV channels.
“This will hurt PTI in a way that it won’t be able to present its balanced viewpoint to the public,” he added.
PECA LAW
On February 20, President Arif Alvi promulgated the ordinance making online public defamation a cognizable and a non-bailable offense while increasing the jail term for defamation of any person or institution from three years to five years.
Before the ordinance came into effect, Section 20, which pertains to the registration of complaints against individuals by aggrieved parties over defamation, was a bailable and non-criminal offence.
Subsequently, the bar councils and media bodies moved the high courts against the law and in a subsequent order, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) barred the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) from arresting anyone under Section 20 of PECA.
After a stream of criticism from the opposition parties, rights organizations and civil society, the MQM-Pakistan – an ally of the ruling PTI – also joined the bandwagon, raising objections over the controversial ordinance.
