Govt. hounding media as it has something to hide: Karu

The right to information bill will not see the light of the day during the tenure of the present government

Former United National Party (UNP) Deputy Leader Karu Jayasuriya said yesterday that the government, which is trying to interfere with the media, will never give them the right to inform the people.

Mr. Jayasuriya was commenting on the proposed code of ethics that the government had planned to impose on the media instead of the Right to Information Act which it promised to introduce two years ago. In June 2011, Mr. Jayasuriya introduced a private member’s motion for the implementation of the Freedom of Information Bill but the government, which promised to introduce a bill, defeated it using its 2/3 majority. Thereafter the UPFA government, which promised to introduce its own Right to Information Act, was now threatening to impose a code of ethics for journalists instead.

“The Right to Information Bill will not see the light of the day during the tenure of the present government,” Mr. Jayasuriya said, assuring that the right to information would be given top priority under a government formed by the UNP. “It will be one of the tasks that we have decided to undertake first. We have already tried to bring it twice but have been unsuccessful. That will be one of our priorities. We have nothing to hide,” Jayasuriya said.