Ijaz Kakakhel Islamabad
A legislative body of Upper House of parliament on Tuesday directed PEMRA to ensure that all political leaders’ speeches are broadcast live, without interruption, in compliance with the High Court’s decision.
The Committee discussed the issue of the appearance word “delayed” on the screen during the transmission of speeches of former Prime Minister Imran Khan, as word “delayed” was seen on the screen during the broadcast. Senator Aun Abbas pointed out that this phenomenon occurred only during Imran Khan’s speeches. The Chairman PEMRA responded that all channels are subject to the same code of conduct, which mandates delayed transmission in order to exercise editorial control. However, the Chairman of the Committee Senator Faisal Javed expressed surprise that former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s speeches were particularly targeted in this regard.
The Chairman of PEMRA could not provide a satisfactory answer to the Committee’s questions on live broadcast speeches of all political leaders. The Committee further decided to invite the owners and representatives of the media channels to attend the next meeting, to review the ongoing situation regarding the closure of channels.
The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting convened at PTV Headquarters in Islamabad, chaired by Senator Faisal Javed. The meeting commenced with a briefing from the Chairman of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority on the recent suspension of transmission of certain channels and the prohibition on broadcasting speeches of specific political figures.
