Pakistan government puts media curbs on hold

10 June, 2007:

The Pakistan government has suspended the stringent restrictions it had imposed on the media.

The restrictions, which took effect on June 4, 2007, had attracted sharp and widespread reactions from the print and broadcast journalists in Pakistan as well as media advocates worldwide. The critics of the measure alleged that the new rules were designed to gag the freedom of the press.

The rules gave the Pakistan government broad powers to cancel television broadcasters’ licences and to seize stations that violated regulations.

Pakistan’s Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani said the regulations had been misinterpreted and would be put on hold as a show of good faith while the government negotiates with broadcasters.

However, according to Hamid Mir, Islamabad bureau chief for Geo TV, a private broadcaster, the government has made it clear that it wants to intimidate the news media. The government had pressured cable companies to block transmissions from several stations.

Hamid Mir said the suspension of the new rules is only temporary and that President Pervez Musharraf or his government might not cancel the rules for good.

“It is just stick-and-carrot,” remarked Hamid Mir. “They will not stop until General Musharraf is re-elected from this parliament.”

Musharraf has said he wants the outgoing parliament to extend his rule for another five-year term. But Musharraf’s plans were jeopardized three months ago when he suspended the nation’s chief justice, sparking an immense campaign by the Opposition against his eight-year-old government.

Since then, over 40 people have been killed in clashes – blamed on a pro-Musharraf group – and lawyers and journalists have come under attack from government forces. Independent television stations have given the crisis extensive coverage.

Even on Thursday, demonstrations against the government continued – with about 7,000 people gathering in Lahore to express their support for ousted chief justice Mohammed Iftikhar Chaudhry.

The government suspended Mohammed Iftikhar Chaudhry after charging him with abuse of office, which Chaudhry has denied. Chaudhry’s supporters say that he was targeted because he opposed Musharraf’s plans to consolidate power.