YOURSAY 'The right of reply is more important than a 10-minute appearance on national TV. The BN regime is paying lip service to press freedom.'

DAP rejects 10-minute airtime for election manifesto

Krish: Bravo to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng for his stand in rejecting the 10-minute airtime (for parties to present their election manifesto on state-owned RTM when Parliament is dissolved). PAS and PKR should follow suit.

I agree that the allotment of 10 minutes of airtime under the guise of press freedom is an insult to opposition political parties.

This is especially so when the ruling parties have been given so much of airtime on a daily basis to air their direct and subtle campaigns in the mainstream media. Where is the fairness?

By not accepting the offer, the opposition will be sending a clear message to Information Minister Rais Yatim and the government that they should not be taken for granted.

More important, the ruling coalition would be denied the satisfaction of having been seen to practise so-called "freedom of speech".

Instead of airtime for party manifestoes, I believe the majority of Malaysians are looking forward to a Najib Razak-Anwar Ibrahim debate. That would indeed be a great day for Malaysian politics.

Cantabrigian: BN has everything to gain if Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng or any Pakatan Rakyat leader accepts Rais' offer.

BN can show to the world how 'democratic' they are by giving the opposition the 'freedom to say what they want' (albeit only for 10 minutes and that it must be pre-recorded).

BN has been using (or more accurately, abusing) RTM, TV3, Bernama , Utusan Malaysia and the likes for years, and all the opposition gets is just 10 minutes?

JAmY: If it is to be pre-recorded, then there is no guarantee that the final message that is broadcast would not have been edited and manipulated to confuse and deceive the electorate.

Let Radio Free Malaysia be the vehicle for Pakatan's voice to reach the masses.

Bender: Good move, Lim. We don't need their media and precious airtime anyway. All these years of denying us our democratic rights have made us independent of their phony media.

Whether we choose to accept or reject the offer, they would use that to cash in some brownie points for themselves.

I bet Lim's rejection will be splashed all over the news as being ungrateful or a proof that Pakatan has nothing to offer. At the same time, if Pakatan accepts that insincere offer, then they will claim themselves to be the democratic hero.

Tiru: Fantastic stand, Lim. Ten minutes of air time for DAP definitely would come with conditions. It is not needed.

Anonymous #21828131: I agree with Lim. Any normal thinking person would feel the same. A drop in the ocean compared to the entire mainstream media spinning BN propaganda 24/7 - it won't make any difference.

Just for the 10 minutes, BN would go around boasting about freedom of speech. What is worse, it's going to be edited by the BN propaganda media.

NewMalaysia: This is just BN's way of showing their true colours; whatever they give away is of a pittance compared to what they and their cronies have taken.

A few million here and a few million there is of no consequence, compared to the billions their cronies are earning,- from their monopolies on electricity, water, Astro, Telekom, mobile phones, tolls, rice, sugar to cars and so on.

XXXXX: In other democratic countries, all politicians, whether from the opposition or the government side, have the same number of minutes on the state radio and TV stations when it is election time.

Their airtime is monitored on all occasions whenever a politician appears, especially if a minister opens a bridge or talks about something else than politics.

The usual lengthy TV roundtable discussions between the government and the opposition parties are also monitored. From the day an election is declared and until election day, all appearances on TV or radio are clocked.

But not here in Malaysia.

Tholu: Well said, Lim. We don't have to hear you and other Pakatan leaders' messages through the subservient and servile Umno mainstream and electronic media. We hear you through the new media without any spin and lies.

Further, even if you use the Umno-controlled media, your message would be missed as we have stopped reading the mainstream newspapers and stopped watching TV3 and other Umno-controlled TV stations.

Wira: The right of reply or rebuttal is more important than a 10-minute appearance on national TV.

The BN regime is paying lip service to media freedom. They will continue to spin lies and half truths and keep you high and dry after your 10 minutes are up.

Onyourtoes: That's the way to go; Pakatan must consistently kick back the baloney these third world tribal leaders are dishing out each day. As usual, they think by giving the opposition 10 minutes, they have shown fairness and magnanimity.

If one looks at the abuse that is going on daily in national and Umno-owned TV stations, the violation of democracy is blatantly clear. The coverage is 100 percent for BN - they trumpet their fake achievements; they twist and turn the truth of every conceivable event; they belittle the opposition policies and manifesto; and they accuse opposition politicians with vile and unsubstantial evidence.

They are incorrigible liars. They even have the audacity to ask the opposition to pre-record their speeches so that they may make one more twist to kill the opposition without the right to reply.

Ma Lay Sian: If the opposition has 10 minutes air time, Umno will have the rest of 23 hours and 50 minutes. And I doubt they will offer the opposition 10 minutes every day.

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