Today morning in a meeting in International Press Hall where officals of Information and Culture Ministry and representatives of Afghanistan Journalists Federation
(AJF) were present, the conditions of electing two representatives of journalists for Media High Council were dicussed. In the meeting, beside the representatives of journalist organizations working under AJF umbrella, Afghanistan Free Radios Association, Afghanistan Center for Journalists and Afghanistan Journalists Council were invited as well.
Prior to this, for two times the efforts have been made in order to elect journalists representatives for Media High Council but the Minister of Information and Culture did not accept the results.
Sayed Makhdum Raheen, Information and Culture Ministerhad selected two people as the representatives of journalists for Media High Council for two years now. But finally after some pressures from journalist community, in a meeting of Complaints Hearing Commission of Senate in 1.6.2013, he accepted to let journalists to elect their representatives for the council.
AJF had elected two representatives for Media High Council under supervision of Independent Election Commission in 8.6.2013 But Information and Culture Minister who is concurrently head of Media High Council did not accept those elected representatives without having any reasons.
In another unlawful effort, Minister of Information and Culture conducted election in 9th Saratan in order to elect two journalists’ representatives, but the elections was boycotted by AJF. And because of journalists’ pressures, Minister of Information and Culture canceled the results of the elections three days later in a press conference.
One of the main reasons that AJF boycotted the elections was the conflict between Mass Media Law and the procedures of electoral process.
The Information and Culture Ministry accepts that the procedures have been revised now, and according to the new procedures the elections should be conducted once again in order to elect two representatives of the journalists.
In today’s meeting a committee of three AJF representatives, one representative of the journalist organizations working outside the AJF umbrella and one representative of Information and Culture Ministry was assigned to revise current procedure and hand it over to the next meeting (which will include current members) in order to be enacted.
If the procedure is enacted the elections will most likely be conducted at the end of Ramadan month.
