Gov’t plans to enforce media policy at wrong time

Asia Journalist Association, Nepal, (AJA Nepal) is dismayed to learn that Nepal Government was planning to enforce the media policy-2012 drafted last January.

It is a wrong time to implement the media policy because there is neither parliament nor political consensus in the country.  The national politics is all in rift; and there is no atmosphere congenial for the election either.

“At a time when there is no new constitution in the country and the government is being criticized from all sectors for its failure to gain people’s confidence, bringing new policy without broader consensus would be disastrous”, said   Bishnu Nisthuri, President of AJA Nepal.

The government’s attention should be focused on framing main law of the country. Without the promulgation of a new constitution, there would be no chance for effective implementation of other laws and policies.

Similarly, the media policy has not met the international standard but followed a state-control policy on media which will obviously jeopardize the liberal and democratic media. Needless to mention, the process of drafting this policy lacked multi-sector participation and ownership.

Therefore, AJA Nepal concludes that present caretaker government should not enforce the media policy but make it subject to international standard and wait for suitable time for implementation.