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I refer to the bill amending the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 tabled by the government in the Dewan Rakyat today. The amendments are minimal, superficial and will maintain the government's oppressive control of the mass media.

Under the new section 3(3), the power of the minister to grant and revoke or suspend newspaper licences is left untouched. Proper and functioning democracies do not impose licence requirements for the mass media. If the Prime Minister and the BN government are genuine about lifting restrictions on the press, why impose the licence requirement?

The only possible object of a media licence requirement is to enable the government to control the media. The licence requirement in section 3(3) is in clear breach of the lettter and spirit of Article 10(1)(a) of the Federal Constitution which guarantees freedom of speech and expression.

Minister can revoke anytime

To make things worse, section 3(3) allows the minister to revoke or suspend a newspaper licence at any time. This is the equivalent of a permanent threat hanging over the heads of newspaper owners and editors to toe the government line. There is thus no significant difference between the provisions of the old PPPA 1984 and the amended version.

Allowing judicial review is of little comfort to newspaper owners as it imposes upon them the onerous burden of taking the matter to court. This impedes the establishment and functioning of free media organizations. Further, the judiciary has consistently failed in defending or affirming fundamental rights such as press freedom.

Section 8A

We are also shocked and disappointed that the Prime Minister and the government have chosen not to remove the draconian section 8A of the PPPA which punishes the publication of false news. Section 8A is like a sword hanging over the head of printers, publishers, editors and writers, and has a chilling effect on press freedom.

The PPPA Amendment Bill 2012 is intended to maintain the government's harsh grip on newspapers, whilst pretending that Prime Minister Najib Razak is making good his promises of reform. We call upon the PM and his government to withdraw this amending bill, and instead repeal the PPPA 1984 in its entirety.

N SURENDRAN IS THE VICE PRESIDENT OF PARTI KEADILAN RAKYAT

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PPPA amendments cosmetic: BN retains its oppressive control of the media - Surendran