PM defends PECA law in his address to the nation

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Imran Khan said on Monday that Prevention of Electronic Crimes (PECA) law was enacted in 2016, and the existing government had only added amendments to it.

“A head of state who has not been involved in any type of corruption is not scared of the media,” the Prime Minister, turning down notions that the government was attempting to muzzle the media.

The PM said a “majority”of news stories being published and aired in the mainstream media were “anti-government”, adding that the government aimed at conducting ethics of social media through PECA.

PM stresses on independent foreign policy

He further went on to say that some journalists tried attempting his character assassination and played dirty politics when it came to the Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital, accusing that funds collected for the hospital were being used to fund Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

“There are journalists who are involved in bribery and publish false information [about the government],” he said, claiming that the type of news stories published by Pakistani media cannot be “reported in any other democracy of the world.”

“Good journalism is an asset for society and only criticism helps governments improve, but dragging one’s name through mud and saying inappropriate things about women should be stopped,” he said.

PM terms criticism on PECA Ordinance as unwarranted

Regarding Pakistan’s economy, he said that when the PTI government came into power, it inherited an economy with the biggest current account deficit in the country’s history. He also cited the example of the US, Canada, the United Kingdom, and Turkey, saying that all these countries were also facing “historic” inflation in decades.

Quoting ‘The Economist’ magazine, the PM said that during the last three years when the entire world was battling against the corona virus pandemic, Pakistan managed to makes its place among the top three countries that smoothly sailed through the COVID-19 challenge in terms of economy.

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