Sunday
Leader: Sri Lanka: Sunday, June 19, 2016.
Deputy Mass
Media and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Karunaratne Paranawithana said that
the media and the people should not expect a free flow of information the day
after the Right to Information bill is presented in parliament on the 23rd of
this month. In an interview with The Sunday Leader he said that there will be a
big attitude change after the RTI is enacted. However he said that change will
not happen overnight and the public officers will have to be trained
extensively, modules and style books will have to be done and a lot of
workshops after the RTI is enacted and the gains will only be felt gradually.
He said that it will take some time and he urged the public to get the best
benefit from this act.He also said that this act will create credible sources
for journalist’s to get their information.
Excerpts
of the interview:
Q.What is
the significance of the Right to Information bill and how does it benefit the
people?
A:First of
all let me say that we are happy that we expect the second reading of the bill
will be passed on the 23rd. We don’t foresee any division within members and we
expect even the members of the opposition will extend their support as well
even if its critical support. So this will be passed unanimously and this is
what we hope.
The
significant feature of this act is by introducing this act we expect to promote
open governance and government. The purpose of this bill is to keep the
government and the purpose of governance under public scrutiny. This is the
first time that this kind of legislation is being brought in.
This act will
create a big shift in the style of governance in Sri Lanka. After enactment the
situation will change. There are around 4000 government institutions in this
country and after this bill is passed, they will have to reveal all government
apparatus to the ordinary public whenever requested. This is the basic feature
of this act.
The reason I
said all details is because information arising from the public institutions
belongs to the public as these are public properties. Even the officers as long
as they are public personnel, and their activities and the process of
governance can also be considered as public property. Therefore you can’t hide
the information of these public institutions. Accordingly there are public
information officers and they are ready to provide the information when
requested.
Q.But
having said that are there limitations on the information that can be demanded
by the public?
A:Yes there
are. Just like we have the freedom of expression but we cannot get away by
using filth in public, there are also limitations on the information that can
be obtained based on several factors, In this act too there are limitations
such as information that will harm national security or harm national economy.
This information will be restricted and the public cannot demand for these.
These are necessary limitations.
However while
these are the principles that the RTI will be based on, operational wise we
have to establish an information commission, which will be a totally
independent commission appointed by the constitutional council, information
officers, appeal officers and there will be by laws and regulations after this
act is enacted.
Q.Is there
a particular time frame that has been set for obtaining of information?
A:Yes three
weeks. As you request the information within three weeks the officer concerned
should give out the information that has been requested.
Q:While
you say that the people have the right to call for information regarding public
figures and their work, are there provisions that also protect the privacy of
these public figures?
A:This is not
applicable to public figures. This is only applicable to public authorities.
It’s true that their ministries are public authority, but a minister is a
public figure. You can’t ask for the private details or information of a
minister under this act. There is another act called asset declaration which
gives one the right to call for the private details of a public figure. We have an asset declaration act but it’s
very weak. I personally believe that parallel to this act we have to enrich the
asset declaration act too which is now in a very weak platform.
Q:Are you
going to bring in the required measures in order to strengthen the asset
declaration act as well?
A:Personally
I am not aware if there is such a move. But as a person who did a lot of work
to bring in this good governance regime, I personally believe that parallel to
this RTI act we must strengthen the asset declaration act as well.
Q:From the
view point of the general public, what does it mean to have access to
information of ministries?
A:The general
public will get the maximum benefit from this act. For instance if you are
trying to get your child into a particular school and the principal has
rejected your application and you feel that there was no reasonable grounds for
your application to be rejected while someone else’s application has been
accepted, then under this act you have the right to question the principle on
how your child was rejected and another child with the same requirements was
admitted.
It’s not a
secret that there is a lot of corruption, misconduct etc taking place
especially when it comes to getting children to schools. There are a lot of
instances where bogus documents have been furnished in order to get children to
schools. But after this law principles will be held responsible and this act
will also pave the way for the eradication of corruption from government
institutions.
Q.There
are also allegations that while this government is doing a lot of work for the
benefit of the people, but these achievements are not properly communicated to
the people. Is this a lapse on the part
of the information ministry?
A:No we have
the strategy. These are not strategies of an autocratic government but a
democratic government. Hence we are in the process of implementing democratic
reforms at present. This is very much part of our programme and strategy as
well.
The
government did a lot but you can see that we have a very broad media
contingency here and we are not controlling them. We have promoted the free
media and now we see a lot of sensational articles being published especially
in the web sites. But there is also no proper regulatory mechanism with regard
to content and as such one may feel that the government is doing a lot but it’s
not communicated properly. But thanks to some responsible media, the truth is
being reported. But given the free media culture we can see more of
anti-establishment news is being done. People of this country love crimes and
gossip but not news that is directly related to their lives. But this
government is very strong and we will bring about reforms in a methodical
manner.
Q:Some
feel that media freedom is being abused and there is a lot of gossip and
sensationalisation of events out there. Hence should the media be monitored or
come under specific guidelines?
A:It is wrong
to say that the government has given too much media freedom. What the
government has done is that it has ensured media freedom. We don’t see any
threat to media such as abductions, assaults and threats.
But it is
also true that sensational journalism and media abuse and some media going
against women and children and improper crime reporting etc. This is a lack of
professionalism and ethical journalism in this country. The media are also
agenda setters and you can’t simply neglect the political involvement and
financial dependency. But above all our first determination is whatever damage
or difficulties the government has to face because of the free workability of
the media we as the government is always of the view that freedom of the media
is a must. In that culture only one can address these issues.
Now we are
thinking of overcoming these issues also and planning on introducing media
regulatory mechanisms. With regard to the print media there is some media
monitoring and accountability through the press council and the press
complaints commission. However these institutions are weak and not very effective.
But with all these shortcomings the print media have some sort of regulatory
mechanism. But for the electronic media there is nothing and no content or
technical regulation too.
So after the
RTI law we are trying to establishing some independent, effective and
democratic media regulatory mechanism. The government has no ethical grounds to
do that but we will be the facilitators to bring in that regulation after
healthy discussions with the stakeholders.
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