PETALING JAYA: Civil society groups have decried Barisan Nasional’s heavy control over information as the Sarawak state election approaches.
The Centre for Independent Journalism, Charter2000-Aliran and the Writers’ Alliance for Media Independence released a statement today that spoke of “a pattern of political control of information regarding the incumbent state government in an environment that already heavily favours them”.
It said that while urban residents in the state had no trouble getting information from opposition parties, their rural counterparts were not so lucky.
“Much of the population is in remote areas reachable only by boats, a communications option that is further limited by the 10-day campaign period set by the Elections Commission.
“The poor infrastructure and physical difficulties posed by the mountainous terrain mean that the media with the biggest reach is radio, which is under the government’s licensing control.”
The statement also pointed out the denial of airtime to opposition candidates.
At the same time, it added, critical issues such as the alleged rape of Penan women and those touching on native customary rights and Chief Minister Taib Mahmud’s alleged corruption had been under-reported, if not altogether censored.
The statement also quoted an April 13 report by Malaysiakini alleging that Umno-linked TV stations were ordered not to broadcast footage of heavily-attended opposition talks.
It also pointed out the punishment meted out to Sarawak Tribune executive editor Paul Si, who was suspended from his job for questioning Taib’s retirement claim.
The statement denounced the barring of activists such as Steven Ng, Wong Chin Huat and Haris Ibrahim from the state.
“While the Sarawak government has the power under Section 65 (I)(a) of the Immigration Act 1959/1963 to control who enters the state, this power has been abused to prevent non-Sarawakian activists critical of Taib from direct engagement with the people,” it said.
The groups also condemned the massive cyber attacks on websites critical of Taib’s reign, including whistleblower Sarawak Report and news portal Malaysiakini.
They urged the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission to investigate and act against the perpetrators of the attacks.
By Patrick Lee
This is media coup by BN!
ReplyDeleteAla no need to blame anyone if don't know who do this thing.
ReplyDeleteIf the party is really perfect, without any media support they still can win. all the vote is come from the people of Sarawak, not outsiders. so just use your campaigns to reach them..
ReplyDeleteSomehow I have to agree with mr whatever. You don't need to fully depend on media support to win. It's all depends on the power of convincing.
ReplyDeleteCampaigning is the best way to reach to the people. Convince them.
ReplyDeleteThe important is, show the efforts to serve the people.
ReplyDeleteyup, the best party can survive without media.
ReplyDeletePenduduk di pedalaman lebih sukar mendapatkan maklumat berbanding penduduk di bandar.
ReplyDeleteQuote "If the party is really perfect, without any media support they still can win. all the vote is come from the people of Sarawak, not outsiders. so just use your campaigns to reach them". Yes, but which party are really perfect? Can anyone of us here demanded a campaigns without involving any media from the current gov? All of us know that the gov are using the mainstream media (TV and BN/UMNO newspaper) above limit without fail. not only that, they use the gov fund for their party purposes. i.e, implement project on site, announce project in their campaign and many more aspect that benefit their party. Can someone tell me, is gov money are owned by the BN/UMNO? They are also using gov heli under their title/position as a minister but go there only for campaigning? Is campaigning for their party are considered official duties? When someone complain so, they keep spinning thing. so?
ReplyDeleteNo party is really perfect. But the people still needs to chose one.
ReplyDelete