PESHAWAR: Federal Minister for Information Technology and senior leader of Mutahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) Syed Aminul Haq on Wednesday asked Prime Minister Imran Khan to withdraw the “controversial” Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) amendment ordinance.
In a letter, the leader of the ruling coalition party said that the ordinance has been issued without taking the stakeholders into confidence.
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The Minister has asked the Prime Minister to consider the protests of journalists and other stakeholders against the ordinance. He said that unwarranted arrests and lack of interpretation of fake news were the cause of unrest in the country. “If the opinions of journalists, human rights organisations and experts had been sought, better amendments could have been made. Journalism is the fourth pillar of the state. Every government wants improves its relations with the media, but due to this amended ordinance, Journalists are turning against the government,” the minister.
He informed the Prime Minister in the letter that journalists and media organisations have announced protest against the ordinance. Haq expressed the hope that the Prime Minister will consult all the stakeholders in this regard.
Confirming the letter from the federal minister’s office, a statement attributed to him was also shared with the media in which he said, “We are allies of the government but belong to an organisation fighting for the basic rights of the people.” He said the amended ordinance was a threat to the government’s public support and against freedom of expression.
Earlier, the High Court restrained the Federal Investigation Agency from making arrests under Section 20 of the PECA Act. The court issued notice to the Attorney General for assistance on the petition, challenging the ordinance and adjourned the hearing of the case till tomorrow. Chief Justice IHC Justice Athar Minallah heard the petition filed by PFUJ against the amendment. During the hearing, PFUJ’s lawyer Qazi Adil argued that the law was amended through ordinance ignoring the parliament.