LAHORE: Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Shehbaz Sharif on Monday said foreign investment would not come into Pakistan, if the condition of freedom of press remained bad.
The Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) on January 30 released a report regarding situation of freedom of media and journalists in Pakistan, according to which the press freedom has further deteriorated here as compared to the previous two years.
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In a statement, Shehbaz Sharif said the CPNE’s ‘Media Freedom Report’ is based on eye-opening facts and it was another indictment against the current government.
“If such reports come then neither Pakistan’s GSP Plus status will remain, nor foreign investment will come into the country,” he said.
The democracy, constitution and people-friendly political parties must seriously consider the contents of the ‘Media Freedom Report’ and formulate a plan of action for the future, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly maintained. He said the report was a proof that the present government was neither democratic nor it had a democratic temperament.
The PML-N leader said the report described how the constitutional right of freedom of expression and media as well as access to information was being suppressed. The report testified that the system of government was a continuation of fascism and dictatorship, he said.
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He said the facts stated in the ‘Media Freedom Report’ were some of the factors that led to a 16-place increase in Pakistan’s corruption rankings. He said every democracy and constitution-loving patriotic Pakistani had bowed his head with regret over the report.
The facts stated in the ‘Media Freedom Report’ would have to be taken seriously and corrective measures would have to be taken at the federal and provincial levels, he said.
