Dr Mahathir Mohamad says media outlets like TV3 and Utusan Malaysia will be freed from political party control if the opposition takes Putrajaya in GE14.
PETALING JAYA: Pakatan Harapan (PH) chairman Dr Mahathir Mohamad today vowed that the coalition would free the mainstream media from political control if it wins the 14th general election (GE14).
He said a PH government would also remove all laws that restrict freedom of expression in Malaysia.
“TV3, Utusan Malaysia, Berita Harian, New Straits Times, and all other media will be freed from the control of political parties, and there will be no more laws to restrict freedom of expression.
“This will be among the measures that PH will take when it forms the government,” the PH prime ministerial candidate said in his regular policy talk session carried live on Facebook today.
He is the second national leader to offer greater freedom to the country’s media organisations after GE14.
Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government would review the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984 so that writing, broadcasting and publishing would not be overly restricted by guidelines.
Zahid, who is also home minister, said the ministry’s actions against the media and printers last year included one severe warning letter, two warning letters, 14 letters of reprimand, 44 letters of advice and four show-cause letters.
Zahid also said the government was aware that many traditional media companies, both electronic and print, were facing challenges in terms of income as most people had switched to non-traditional media.
He added that most traditional media outlets were viewed as biased towards the government.
In his talk, Mahathir also highlighted the promise in the PH manifesto to fight corruption if the coalition triumphs in GE14.
“To do this, we will adopt various ways, one of which is to limit the service of the prime minister to two terms.
“We will also decentralise the powers under the prime minister by reducing the number of ministers in the Prime Minister’s Department. Special committees will be set up to investigate 1MDB, Felda, Mara and Tabung Haji.”
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission, now controlled by the prime minister, will be placed under Parliament and will report to it, he added. -FMT
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