ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Wednesday said the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) believes in freedom of press and has never censored or used secret funds to control the media.
Addressing the 28th Award ceremony of the All Pakistan Newspapers Association (APNS) at the PM Office, the PM asked the media for self-regulation and urged the media practitioners to exercise impartiality and objectivity.
PM Abbasi said that there no was space for censorship in contemporary scenario. He added that censorship might produce temporary benefits for the people, but is not in the interest of the general public in the longer run.
The premier said that the free and fair media was significant for the democracy. PM Abbasi said his government was also proud of the fact that it did not use the “secret funds” of the Intelligence Bureau for media manipulation as it believes that the right to free expression needs to be fulfilled.
“Our government always tried to maintain the freedom of expression at all costs,” he said and added at the same time it was government’s desire that there were more objective and positive reporting about Pakistan.
He said successful completion of the development projects needs to be highlighted so as to have a feel good factor for the masses.
