Govt prepared to review laws to give space for media freedom, says Anwar

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 4): The government is ready to provide a more open space for media freedom, including considering a review of related laws, in line with the country’s maturity, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

However, he said the freedom is not absolute to prevent the spread of defamation and any form of extreme provocation that touches on racial and religious sensitivities.

“I agree that we should give freedom because the country is maturing. Now that the country is independent, free, so we must give space… the country must progress with the passage of time.

“We must give a more open space, people can criticise, can give their views but there must also be a space where the confusion or the excesses are also corrected,” he said at the Meet Anwar dialogue session at Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology (TAR UMT) here, today.

He said further discussions would be held with Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil to study the proposal for a review of related laws.

Anwar said this in response to a student’s question regarding the government’s willingness to review or repeal existing media laws to avoid overlapping regulations, thus strengthening the role of the Malaysian Media Council.

According to him, the previous government had agreed in principle to strengthen journalism professionalism through the establishment of the council as a self-regulatory body.

Earlier, the Prime Minister in his speech called on the younger generation to reject any racial and religious sentiments to ensure that the country’s stability and peace are maintained.

He said the younger generation has a big role in determining the direction of the country by choosing the path of unity over division.

He said future leaders must dare to make the right decisions for the national interest even if sometimes the actions are unpopular or invite strong criticism from opponents.

Also present at the ceremony were Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir, Transport Minister Anthony Loke, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh and Housing and Local Government Minister Nga Kor Ming.

Also present were the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the TARC Education Foundation Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong who is also the Member of Parliament for Ayer Hitam, the university’s top management as well as more than 1,600 students and university staff.

At the same ceremony, the Prime Minister also presented a cheque replica as management expenditure grant for RM40 million to TAR UMT. – Bernama