Amid criticism Sri Lanka’s Elections Commission, the Chairman Mahinda Deshapriya on Sunday has withdrawn the plan to censor the state-owned, Independent Television Network (ITN), AFP reported.
“After considering many representations by several parties that my order was discriminatory, I revoke the (censorship) order issued on ITN,” Deshapriya said in a letter to the broadcaster, seen by AFP.
In a surprise move supposedly on behalf of the Elections Commission, the Election Commission Chief had banned the state-owned TV station from airing any live political programs after accusing the channel of harming the campaign of opposition candidate Gotabhaya Rajapaksa.
In a letter issued on Saturday, the election chief instructed the ITN to clear the content of all political programs with the Elections Commission. The order was to come into effect from Sunday midnight.
Deshapriya came under heavy criticism that the state TV is penalized while the private channels are the biggest culprits of airing biased contents in support of the opposition candidate and the polls chief is silent about them.
Independent poll-monitoring group the People’s Action for Free and Fair Elections (PAFFREL) said privately-owned TV stations were worse than ITN in violating campaign laws and in supporting one candidate over others.
“We have always maintained that it is discriminatory to target only state-run media because the bigger offenders are the private channels,” PAFFREL chief Rohana Hettiarachchi told AFP.
He said his organization was instead calling for the strict implementation of campaign rules on all media outlets.
“They are all using frequencies which belong to all people of this country,” he said.
“Therefore all have a responsibility to provide balanced coverage without breaking campaign laws.”
The censorship order followed a complaint that remarks of former additional solicitor general Wasantha Navaratne Banda broadcast over ITN on Wednesday night was harmful to Rajapaksa. It was the first time a Sri Lankan election chief has ordered censorship of a TV station.
Official sources said the unprecedented media ban also caused friction within the three-member Election Commission, with at least one commissioner openly challenging Deshapriya and accusing him of acting arbitrarily.
“The restriction on ITN was Stalinist,” commission member Ratnajeevan Hoole told AFP.
“The correct thing would have been to impose heavy fines for violations… whether by private or state media.”
The commission last week said it received many complaints about other channels campaigning for Rajapakse without declaring their bias, but could not take action as they were all private networks.
Courtesy: Colombo Page
