CPNE elects office-bearers for year 2022-23

PM Shehbaz felicitates office-bearers, says govt believes in protecting press freedom

KARACHI:

The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) on Saturday elected its office-bearers for the year 2022-23.

Daily Times Lahore Group Editor Kazim Khan was elected as the president, Daily Express Lahore Group Editor Ayaz Khan as the senior vice president, Monthly Kiran Digest Karachi Chief Editor Aamer Mahmood as secretary-general, and Pakistan Today Editor Yousaf Nizami was elected as the deputy secretary-general.

92 News Lahore Editor-in-Chief Muhammad Haider Amin was elected as the Punjab vice president, Nawa-e-Waqt Islamabad Editor Salman Masood as the Islamabad vice president, Awami Awaaz Karachi Editor-in-Chief Dr Jabbar Khattak as the Sindh vice president, Ittehad Peshawar Editor-in-Chief Tahir Farooq as the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa vice-president, Daily Balochistan Express Quetta Editor-in-Chief Arif Baloch as the Balochistan vice president.

These officials were elected at a meeting of the newly elected standing committee. Forty-four new people, including President Khan, were elected as members of the standing committee for this year.

Later in the day, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif congratulated the newly elected officials of the CPNE on winning the annual election of the media body.

“Freedom of press and expression is an indispensable constitutional requirement for strengthening democracy,” the PM said in a statement.

“The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) led coalition government not only believes in protecting the media and freedom of expression but is taking steps to promote it.”

PM Shehbaz said that the CPNE was a leading media body and the government would work with it to promote press freedom in Pakistan.

“I pray that the newly elected body will be able to fulfill its responsibility of serving journalists and journalism, for which they will have our full support,” the statement quoted him as saying.

Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Director General Major General Babar Iftikhar also felicitated the newly elected members, saying that the CPNE has always promoted responsible journalism.