The decision is part of the fight against corruption announced during the election campaign. The Minister for Information assures Pakistan Television and Radio Pakistan "complete editorial independence". In the inaugural address, the prime minister promises to eliminate waste and help the needy.
Islamabad (AsiaNews / Agencies) - The censorship on state television and radio is abolished: This is the first act of the government of Imran Khan, head of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and newly installed as prime minister of Pakistan.
The news was announced yesterday evening by Fawad Chaudhary, the new Federal Minister for Information, Communications and National Heritage. On his Twitter profile he wrote that Imran Khan gave clear instructions to abolish "political censorship" and ensure "complete editorial independence to Pakistan Television (PTV) and Radio Pakistan".
The minister added that "drastic changes in the information department will be visible in the next three months" and that the PTV and Pakistan Cricket Board "will no longer be used as private property by any government ".
Under the control of the state administration, PTV and Radio Pakistan have often been accused of acting as "microphone" of government policies. During the previous executive of Nawaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League - Nawaz (PML-N), the oppositions complained about the absence of freedom of opinion on the state information channels.
The abolition of the censorship is one of the policies announced during the election campaign, focused on the fight against corruption, the malpractice of the dominant parties and the support of Islamic ideology. Imran Khan, a former cricket star who stumbled into politics, defeated the opposition in the elections last July 25. Despite allegations of fraud coming from opposition parties and even from Church leaders, the newly elected prime minister managed to form the government thanks to an alliance with small parties and was sworn before the president last August 18th.
In the inaugural address, he promised to eliminate waste, invest money for the needy like malnourished children, do justice for victims of abuse and fight climate change. On the other hand, there are numerous challenges for the new government: the unusual alliance of the other two major parties (Pml-N and Pakistan Peoples Party) who have decided to unite to oppose; Islamic fundamentalism; the lack of water resources; the dizzying increase of the population, which is not accompanied by an equally rapid economic growth.