Recommendations for media council to be presented to gov't in two months

Recommendations for the Malaysian Media Council are expected to be presented to the government in the next two months, said veteran journalist A Kadir Jasin.

Speaking to reporters today, the special advisor to Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad for communications and media affairs said Putrajaya is "very serious" in having the local media self-regulate.

"There has never been formal self-regulation, nor a press council, in Malaysia. In the past few months, editors, media owners, and academicians teaching journalism, have been meeting and now, at least two sets of recommendations are being prepared to be presented to the government in the next two months.

"Because the general view is that the media regulate themselves, but there must be some form of legal backing for them. 

"So that probably will come from the Parliament, via an act of Parliament [...] supported by the government by way of legality," Kadir told reporters after attending a Suhakam event with the media in Kuala Lumpur.

In October last year, Kadir said that the Pakatan Harapan government wants the establishment of the Malaysian Media Council, advocated by the media since 1974, to be expedited.

Ministers must self-assess

On another matter, Kadir said it is up to ministers to assess themselves to gauge whether they are doing good enough in their jobs.

He was responding when pressed on whether he personally thinks the current cabinet is not up to standard.

Last week, Kadir had in a blog post, said that the formation of the Economic Action Council (EAC) is an acknowledgement that the existing government machinery is inadequate to handle matters concerning the economy, finances and people's welfare.

Asked about his remark today, Kadir stressed: "I don't want to counter these comments. We believe in freedom. I think I write I feel, what's in my mind is the fact, or is reasonable. Anyone can agree or disagree.

"I've written (about it) and I don't want to repeat. It is up to the ministers themselves to self-examine, and think if they are doing good enough, I will not argue with them. But they have to also take into account what other people are saying, particularly their constituents. In most cases, I am merely reflecting what I see, and what I hear from the people," Kadir told reporters when met at a Suhakam meet with the media event in Kuala Lumpur earlier today.

Meanwhile, Kadir said the call by Johor DAP committee member Boo Cheng Hau for Mahathir to step down as prime minister, demonstrates that democracy is very much alive in the country.

"During BN's time, if there had been MPs or assemblypersons from MCA or MIC who criticised (former premier) Najib (Abdul Razak), I think they would have been sacked from the party."

"In politics, asking someone to step down is democratic. Our problem now is we have been stuck in an era for too long where democratic practices are considered abnormal. 

"Why don't we start accepting these as common practices in a democracy?" he said. - Mkini