By Asim Hussein
ISLAMABAD: Speaker National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf Thursday said that propagating false news and unverified narratives have become a real challenge for all democratic societies.
He lamented that spreading negative news, especially about prime institutions has become a negative social trend.
The journalist community‘s role to reject such false propaganda against parliament is essential to keep the sanctity of the parliament intact, he expressed these views while addressing the members of the Parliamentary Reporters Association (PRA) at the Parliament House.
The Speaker claimed that the media plays the role of a bridge between the people and the public representative. He also asserted that PRA is part and parcel of Parliament. The early resolution of all issues faced by PRA members had been his chief priority.
The journalists reporting the proceedings of the Parliament have a responsibility to convey verified news as only true news would keep the public trust intact in Parliament. The journalists should do their part to counter the fake news and whenever they need any information in this regard they can contact the National Assembly Secretariat.
The Speaker said that it is incumbent upon journalists to guide them and rectify them whenever they observe something against parliamentary norms. And, if someone disrespects this sacred Institution, it is media representatives’ responsibility to discourage such efforts to malign this sacred institution. He said that this parliament belongs to all and everyone should work together to raise its dignity.
Referring to the baseless and fabricated news on social media about the parliamentary delegation participating in the 65th Commonwealth Parliamentary Conference, he said that as per criteria the federal parliament of Pakistan was entitled to have five members of parliament. Of these five members, two were from the Senate and two members from the National Assembly of Pakistan were to participate in the conference. One MNA regretted and only MNA Romina Khursheed Alam participated in the conference.
The speaker said that it was very sad that despite the denial of this news by the National Assembly Secretariat, the media houses tried to throw mud on the most reliable institution of the state without any investigation.
He said that some very reliable officials of institutions also played their role in spreading baseless news.
The speaker said we were able to successfully organize the third IPU Asia-Pacific seminar during the last month.
The speaker said that during the last month, Qaumi has successfully organized mega-events, including the Diamond Jubilee celebrations on August 14 and the IPU Asia-Pacific Parliaments seminar on SDGs.
He said that during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the voice of children, women, minorities and even the eunuch on the floor of the Parliament echoed in the Parliament House. The purpose of the convention is to bridge the gap between the people and the people’s representatives.
He further said that the aim of the IPU seminar was to highlight the irreparable damage caused by floods due to global climate change in Pakistan. The resounding success of IPU is that 34 countries of the Asia-Pacific agree to present an emergency resolution to highlight the damages caused by the flood disasters in the forthcoming IPU Conference to be held in Rwanda next month.
