ISLAMABAD: The government believes in free and independent media and regards it the fourth pillar of the state but while playing the role of a watchdog, the media should make sure that it does not undermine the democratic system and national institutions, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani said on Saturday.
Addressing SAFMA’s 4th National Conference on Media, Democracy and Good Governance, the prime minister said, “The media should not try to become a creator of news and act as a judge. The trend of being the kingmaker, which is manifestly present in a section of press, should end. People are the best and ultimate judges to pass the final verdict and hold any individual, party and the government accountable for their actions.”
Gilani said the primary and basic role of the media was to provide news and information to the people in a fair and objective manner. “Its professionalism gets compromised when it resorts to speculations that create fear and panic among the public.” Democracy: He said democracy should be given a chance to develop into a sustainable system capable of addressing people’s problems.
“Speculations and self-styled analyses puts a negative impact on the economy by creating an impression of political instability,” he said, asking, “Does the cause of democracy and institution-building gets advanced when a section of press becomes a party and keeps giving deadlines about the ouster of the government?”
“Democracy will stand strengthened if it is considered a process. Our impatience with democratic dispensations proved very destructive in the past with long-term implications for our state and society. Let us not repeat our mistakes. Let us chart our way forward towards a modern, democratic and welfare Pakistan, which reflects the aspirations of its people. Look what democracy has achieved in two and half years.”
The prime minister said the efforts to impose a uniform system without being alive to ground realities had failed miserably in the past and it was the need of the hour to evolve a system that was aimed at creating harmony and fostering unity within the diverse elements of national power.
Referring to PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif’s proposal of a Charter of Pakistan, he said, “The parameters of the proposal of the national agenda given by Nawaz Sharif will be discussed when its details are shared with us. However, it may require taking all the stakeholders on board to develop consensus on the ideas and policies in the larger interest of the people of Pakistan.”
He said governance had become a very complex phenomenon. “This is precisely because of the fast-paced changes and evolutionary processes that have come to characterize the functioning of a modern nation-state. The emergence of new centres of power such as robust private sector, media and civil society organizations has given birth to new imperatives of governance.”
