NA speaker set to move PEMRA against TV channels

Some channels aired news that National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had banned discussion on the Panama leaks

ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly speaker’s office on Saturday announced its decision to lodge a complaint with Pemra against television channels which aired “false news intending to malign” the speaker.

On Thursday, some television channels aired news that National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq had banned discussion on the Panama leaks in various standing committees of the lower house of parliament.



On Saturday, the speaker’s office maintained that the speaker had never issued any such directive and that the news had lowered the prestige of the speaker’s office in particular and that of parliament in general. “No such ban had ever been imposed to restrain any committee of the National Assembly from considering any issue relating to the Panama Papers,” a press statement issued by the speaker’s office said.



Meanwhile, the PTI “condemned” what it termed “a ploy” to restrict “impartial” parliamentary reporting.

Vice-Chairman of PTI Shah Mehmood Qureshi said that his party condemned such inappropriate moves.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 11^th, 2016.