The opposition parties on Monday hit back at the government for the proposed Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) amendments, saying it actually wanted to conceal bad governance by snubbing the people’s voice through such draconian laws.
Two major opposition parties – Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) – expressed serious concern over the PECA law. President Arif Alvi Sunday signed two ordinances making changes to the PECA 2016 and the Elections Act, 2017.
Under the ordinance, the definition of a “person” has been broadened to include any company, association, institution, organization, authority, or any other. Furthermore, anyone found guilty of attacking a person’s “identity” will now be sentenced to five years instead of three years.
The ordinance also states the informant or the complainant shall be “aggrieved person, his authorized representative, or his guardian, where such person is a minor or a member of the public in respect of a public figure or a holder of public office”.
Addressing a press conference at the party secretariat in Islamabad, PML-N spokeswoman Marriyum Aurangzeb said the laws were nothing more than a tool to hide incapability of the government. “This all being done on direction of Prime Minister Imran Khan as he never wants to be criticized,” she said, adding that if exercise to such law is mandatory then Imran Khan should be arrested who always lied, misinformed people and committed character-assassination of others. She said Imran Khan had been doing this for a long time.
Aurangzeb chastised the premier for pushing the country into inflation and poverty. “Instead of improving your performance, you are busy forming such laws that could put your critics in jails,” she addressed the prime minister, adding that to give information was the most fundamental responsibility of the media and ‘you are trying to suppress this public right’.
She said the law is not only against the constitution of the country, but also against the basic human rights and all existing human rights laws.
“You (PM Imran Khan) will have to be accountable sooner or later, your such approach can’t save you from accountability,” she said. As per a Gallup survey 67 percent of the country inflation is the biggest issue of the people, the PML-N leader recalled. According to Aurangzeb, the recent amendments to the cybercrime law were made to “cover” the saga involving the media figure Mohsin Baig.
She further said, “At the same time, I also want to ask Imran Khan sahib, do you have the means to put 220m people behind bars?”
Because, she said, people would be criticising the premier and his government, given their dismal performance. “You are criticised in every neighbourhood and city because people don’t have food on their table today. They don’t have money to buy medicines … You have destroyed the economy,” she said. “You want to put the entire nation behind bars?”
She said instead of improving its performance, the government was taking measures to punish journalists and analysts participating in talk shows who informed the nation about its performance. Aurangzeb warned that laws being framed by the government would eventually work against it. At a separate presser, Leader of Opposition in the Senate Syed Yousaf Raza Gilani said that his party will challenge the “harsh” PECA law amendments in the court.
Gilani said the passage of the amendments was an “attempt to silence the opposition and the media as the government is scared.”
They want to harass the media, civil society, and social media activists, he said, adding that the parliament couldn’t be ignored in any way.” “They want to restrict the media through draconian laws. They want to intimidate their opponents by making such laws. Didn’t the media cooperate with them when they were on the container?” he asked. The PPP leader said those who made the law will be the first to face it. The PPP leader also said that the party was contacting other opposition parties to seek their support for the February 27 long march.
