There is no guarantee that Pakatan Rakyat will repeal all repressive press laws and unshackle the current media environment should it take over Putrajaya, the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) said in its annual Freedom of Expression report.

The 125-page report released this evening, took a jab at the banning of the Malay daily Utusan Malaysia in Pakatan-ruled Penang and Kelantan, and the appointment of Selangor Menteri Besar’s secretaries to vet the community weekly Selangor Times.

NONE The CIJ said Pakatan state governments have demonstrated potential “similarities between them and the BN” when voted into power in 2009.

 

A motion was passed in the Penang legislative assembly in May 2011, to bar the Umno-owned Utusan from covering its proceedings following unverified reports on the renovation cost of the Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s rented residence, and an alleged plot by DAP and Christian pastors to change the country’s official religion to Christianity.

In June last year, the Malay daily was also banned from covering Kelantan functions involving the menteri besar and the state legislative assembly after it published a caricature on the issue of rape and adultery.

NONE The report slammed Pakatan politicians for “speaking in the same language as their BN counterparts” as a Penang assemblyperson was even calling for the arrest of the reporter who wrote the “Christian state” story.

“Recommending the use of the same strong-arm tactics that the BN government uses to take to task errant media practitioners suggests too much of a similarity between the value systems and strategies of PR and BN.

Not ready to have free media

“Clearly, PR politicians must learn to be more strategic and nuanced in their responses to such issues to prevent accusations that they are the same as the BN,” said the report.

The CIJ also studied the case of Selangor Times , a financially-independent weekly published as as a state publication, and argued that Pakatan is not ready to have a fully free media.

The report pointed out that Selangor MB’s political secretary Faekah Husin and press secretary Arfa’eza Abdul Aziz vet the community newspaper before it goes to print, despite there being no documented instances of the advisers directing the newsroom.

“The act of state vetting - for whatever reason - remains problematic from the point of view of independent journalism.

selangor times “Indeed, state vetting, purportedly because Selangor Times is officially published on behalf of the state in order to bypass the Printing Presses and Publications Act  is no different from having a censor in the newsroom,” said the report.

The CIJ also noted that the two advisers did pass remarks that questioned editorial decision-making, citing instances where a particular individual who had won an award was questioned because of conflicts with the PAS leadership; and a proposal by the editorial team to start a “know-your-assemblyman” session was deemed as problematic as it would give publicity to BN representatives.

“Whether Selangor Times will be able to maintain its editorial independence will be a good indication of how a potential PR federal government would behave if it came to power,” it said.

The report commended Pakatan for demonstrating a better understanding of civil liberties, such as by introducing freedom of information (FOI) laws in Selangor and Penang.

However, it stressed that the FOI laws in Selangor and Penang lag behind international best practices and were not duplicated in PAS-ruled states of Kelantan and Kedah.

“Hence, the onus is still on citizens to keep pressuring and educating their elected representatives to ensure that these freedoms are understood, respected and upheld,” said the report.