ISLAMABAD, 11 April 2008 — Law Minister Farooq Naik yesterday tabled a bill in Parliament seeking repeal of Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) laws that were introduced by President Pervez Musharraf when he imposed a state of emergency on Nov. 3.
The National Assembly also passed a resolution calling on the government to ask the United Nations officially to conduct an investigation into the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto on Dec. 27 in Rawalpindi.
Earlier, Minister for Information and Broadcasting Sherry Rehman said the federal Cabinet has approved scrapping discriminatory PEMRA laws. “The government would repeal all discriminatory Pemra laws to fulfill the demand of the media and remove its concerns,” she said.
In a joint press briefing with Finance Minister Ishaq Dar on the second meeting of the new Cabinet, Rehman said Pemra was a regulatory body to facilitate the electronic media, which could be reconstituted to the satisfaction of all stakeholders. Rehman told a questioner that the expenses of the Prime Minister’s House had been reduced 40 percent and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has asked all ministers to effect economy in their ministries.
