Media organizations met this morning at the Government Media and Information Center (GMIC) to select two media workers to represent them on the High Media Council. Article 41 of the Mass Media Law states that two of the 13 High Media Council seats are reserved for the “journalist community.” The council also sets aside two seats for civil society members. The same article states that an action plan should outline the selection of these representatives, but the article does not define this process. One year ago some civil society umbrella organizations identified and selected tow representative to the council. Since then and until now, those representatives are members of High Media Council.
In the morning meeting of Media organization their representatives were elected by using the Example of civil society organizations.
Five journalists were nominated for today’s vote. Channel 1 TV Managing Director and Afghan Journalists’ Safety Committee Deputy Director Abdullah Azadeh Khenjani received 47 votes and Afghanistan Free Journalist Association President and Shamshad TV Director Khepalvak Sapie received 37 votes. Nahid Nazari, Hakim Mukhtar and Hashmatullah Radfar received 20, 21 and 3 votes respectively. Mr. Khenjani and Mr. Sapie secured the most votes to represent the media on the council.
The meeting was attended by journalist associations including the National Journalist Union, National Union of Journalists and Reporters, Afghan Women Journalists Association, Afghanistan Free Journalists Association, South Asian Free Media Association, Afghanistan National Journalists Council, Afghan Jouranlists’ Safety Committee, the Committee to Protect Afghan Journalists, and Nai Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan. Each organization was asked to send five representatives to take part in the election. The Afghanistan National Journalists Council did not send its representatives to the meeting and three members of the Union of Journalists and Reporters objected to the vote and left the meeting.
The vote was monitored by three members of the Independent Election Commission. These monitors regarded the vote as transparent and fair. A report on the proceedings will be published in order to formalize the vote, they said.
In a meeting of the Senate Complaints Commission held on 1st Jun 2013, Minister of Information and Culture Sayed Makhdoom Raheen pledged in the presence of media representatives to reserve High Media Council seats for two journalists. In response, media activists and workers held the election to appoint their delegates.
In the past three years, mass media representatives did not have representation on the High Media Council due to interference from the minister of information and culture, who had appointed his own representatives to the council.
