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Both sides playing media games
Any debate on media-freedom related issues in Parliament, almost always results in much finger pointing, but little agreement on how the independence and standards in the media within the country can be maintained and strengthened. Ruling party MPs see all the vices associated with the media being committed by organisations that are privately owned, while Opposition legislators see the State media as the main offender.
So, on Wednesday, when Parliament debated regulations framed under the Sri Lanka Press Council Act, to increase registration fees of newspapers, the same prejudiced views were expressed aplenty.
However, it was remarks made by two Government members that drew most attention during the debate. First, External Affairs Monitoring MP Sajin Vaas Gunwardena said that he supported the re-introduction of the criminal defamation law which was abolished in 2002.
The reason, he said, was that, people unjustly attacked in the media, could not get proper redress, and the Sri Lanka Press Council did not have enough teeth to address grievances of those at the receiving end of unfair media practices. Next, UPFA Puttalam district MP Arundika Fernando made another announcement.
He said that, cartoonist-cum-journalist Prageeth Ekneligoda, missing since January 2010, is living in disguise in France. “He left the country with the assistance of some embassies here. He is living in France. The people who live there know about it,” he said.
These startling revelations aside, most other Government members who took part in the debate, compared their track record relating to the media, as opposed to the one under the UNP regime, thus awakening the ghost of many media personnel whose lives ended tragically during the UNP’s years in power.
MP Eran Wickramaratne
Opposition members said the same, but neither side came out looking better than the other on how the media fared under successive governments, given their collective dismal record in safeguarding media rights.
Government move to introduce a code of ethics for journalists, was raised during the debate by UNP National List MP Eran Wickramaratne, who said that this move has to be viewed with suspicion, particularly when one looks at the State-controlled media.
“Why is not the Government self-regulating its own media at present, without attempting to bring a Code of Ethics which will inevitably control only the private media?” he queried.
However, Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella said there is justification for some form of control over the media. “The media should have the freedom to expose wrongdoings, but on the other hand, if people are affected by what is revealed in the media, they too should have room to take action, if the information is misleading or malicious,” he said. The Minister added that excessive freedom for the media will not benefit the country.
Keheliya Rambukwella
Meanwhile, on Thursday, Government took up for debate the Registration of Electors (Special Provisions) Bill. Even though it was introduced as an Urgent Bill, the debate was postponed for another day.
The Bill allows for a supplementary electoral list to be set up to include the names of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) from the north and east, to enable them to register as voters.
The Bill was presented to the House by Justice Minister Rauff Hakeem who explained in detail the provisions of the Bill. The Bill permits IDPs to vote in the electoral district in which they were resident prior to 2009, if his/her name appeared in the register of electors for any electoral district in the Northern or Eastern Provinces for any year until the end of the year 2009, and whose name has not been entered in any register in operation subsequent to the year 2009.
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