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Government preparing new Right to Information bill

DailyMirror.lk:   

A new Bill, which is being prepared, will ensure the right to information and enhance media freedom and participatory democracy, the government said yesterday.

Cabinet spokesman and Minister Anura Priyadharshana told a journalist at the weekly Cabinet briefing that the private member’s Bill presented by United National Party (UNP) Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya on the ‘Right to Information’ had been rejected by the government because the Bill was presented without discussing it at the party leaders’ meeting or obtaining their consent.

He said the government was always prepared to strengthen freedom of expression, media freedom and right to information.

“We have been discussing the issue of right to information for a long time. The government expects to discuss this with all the stakeholders including the media, civil society, and political parties and we  will incorporate their suggestions in the new Bill,” the minister said.

The minister said the government had no intention of rejecting the private members’ Bill presented by Mr. Jayasuriya but would study it further and incorporate the non-controversial and progressive clauses in the new Bill.

“This government is for media freedom and we will not suppress it,” he said.

 

Govt. claims comprehensive Right to Information Bill being drafted

Island.lk:  

Environment Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa, addressing the weekly Cabinet press briefing in Colombo, said that the Opposition’s Right to Information Bill had been rejected by a majority of 63 votes in Parliament because the UNP’s Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya had tabled it without obtaining the consent of other party leaders.

He said that the government was drafting a more comprehensive piece of legislation that would strengthen media and democratic rights. A similar undertaking was made to the Free Media Movement in 2007.

However, Jayasuriya told the media on Wednesday that he had obtained the consent of Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa before submitting the RI Bill to Parliament.

Having first presented the Bill in September last year, Jayasuriya withdrew it on an assurance by the government that it was drafting a “more comprehensive piece of legislation.”

The need for a Right to Information mechanism was mooted by the UNP in 2003 and has since been widely discussed in media, civil society and political forums, but Yapa said yesterday that the government “needs to talk to all stakeholders first.”

The RI Bill presented by Jayasuriya sought free access to official information and the establishment of a Freedom of Information Commission, which specifies the procedure for making requests for information and the grounds on which such requests may be denied.

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