BAB irredeemably bad

Thursday 8th June, 2023

The Rajapaksa-Wickremesinghe administration has earned notoriety for trying to defend the indefensible. Cabinet Spokesman and Media Minister Bandula Gunawardena made a vain attempt at Tuesday’s weekly press briefing to defend the proposed Broadcasting Authority Bill (BAB) and dispel fears being expressed about it. Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella, who was present there, stuck his oar in; he said there was no reason for the media organisations that neither committed any transgressions nor intended to do so in the future to fear the BAB. His argument is seriously flawed in that dealing with errant media outfits is not the primary purpose of the BAB, which is aimed at facilitating the suppression of the media in their entirety. It is also intended to have the same intimidating and unsettling effect as the sword of Damocles on journalists and media owners; if it is enacted, all electronic media institutions will be at the mercy of the government, which will exercise control over the renewal of their transmission licences among other things. The BAB will inhibit journalists from being critical of the government and exposing its corrupt deals, etc.

Why is the government in a mighty hurry to introduce broadcasting regulatory laws at this juncture? Its focus should be on stabilising the economy, resuming debt repayment and granting some relief to the public. One of the tasks that the SLPP publicly entrusted President Ranil Wickremesinghe with following the ouster of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was to bring order out of chaos. He succeeded in doing so—credit where credit is due. He acted decisively and saved Parliament with the help of the military, who aborted an attempt by a mob to march on it, last year. If the hordes had been able to storm Parliament, the country would have been plunged into anarchy. Considering the positive impact the President’s bold action had on democracy and efforts being made to bring about political stability and revive the economy, only a hypocrite of the worst order will deny him credit for that. Unfortunately, a few months on, the government on his watch is trying to bring ‘chaos out of order’ by undertaking missions that are bound to endanger democracy and the semblance of political stability that has come about, and, worse, negate whatever gains the country has made on the economic front during the past several months.

The country has managed with the existing broadcasting regulatory laws during insurrections, a protracted war, and numerous socio-political upheavals including Aragalaya. So, why should the government make haste to bring in new media laws at present? It had better get its priorities right without biting off more than it can chew and inviting trouble.

It may be that the government is trying to make the most of the current situation and introduce oppressive laws to consolidate its hold on power. One may recall that in the early noughties, Wickremesinghe, as the Prime Minister, endeared himself to the media by doing away with criminal defamation laws and received praise from journalists, and deservedly so. But all the good he has done will be gone in a jiffy if the proposed broadcasting laws are enacted.

The UNP has a history of suppressing media freedom. It had journalists assaulted and murdered. The Jayewardene and Premadasa governments even did not allow the privately-owned television stations to carry local news bulletins. It was President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who granted the electronic media that freedom, soon after the 1994 regime change. The UNP lost and opted to avoid presidential elections for about three decades, and having secured the presidency fortuitously, it is apparently reverting to its old totalitarian ways, ably assisted by its partner in crime, the SLPP, whose leaders had journalists killed and media institutions torched.

There is no way the government can justify its efforts to introduce the BAB. Some ruling party politicians have said there could be an extensive discussion thereon before it is presented to Parliament, but what is there to be discussed about an irredeemably bad Bill?

The media continues to draw public criticism, and calls are being made for new laws to enable better regulation thereof, especially in view of the phenomenal expansion of social media. But introducing oppressive laws as envisaged in the BAB is certainly not the way to set about it.

Pressure must be cranked up on the government to deep-six the BAB. Journalists and all others who cherish media freedom and democracy must not rest until that goal is achieved. Boot, saddle, to horse, and away!