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Mangala's
Press Council revival move deferred
Mr. Samaraweera told this week's cabinet meeting that the Press Council, a statutory tribunal introduced in 1973, had gone into disuse with the advent of the self-regulatory Press Complaints Commission (PCC). He said that the previous government had put up a cabinet paper for the abolition of the Press Council, but not implemented the proposal. He added that public servants and politicians had no institution to seek redress against press excesses. Ministers Sarath Amunugama, Anura Bandaranaike and Jeyeraj Fernandopulle had, however, requested Mr. Samaraweera to defer the proposal. Mr. Samaraweera had said the PCC had no 'teeth' and had not received any complaints so far. Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar had however stated that the PCC functioned under the Arbitration Law of the country, and therefore had the necessary 'teeth' to implement its decision. Meanwhile, the PCC's Chief Executive Officer, Manique Mendis told The Sunday Times yesterday that since its inception in October last year, the Commission had received upto 180 complaints or communications from the public, and more than 90 per cent of them had been resolved amicably by the parties. Two complaints went into full arbitration by the Council headed by former Ombudsman Sam Wijesinha and about a dozen cases are pending, she added. |
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