KUALA LUMPUR, May 11 — PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar today promised to re-table her initially rejected motion to abolish the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984.
In a press conference at Yayasan Al-Bukhary here, the Permatang Pauh MP said that she will also push for a media council to allow the press to self-govern.
“In 2010, I prepared a bill to abolish the PPPA and to institute a media council.
“It’s been my commitment to ensure that media is free and fair in this country.
“We’re talking about a new era where you celebrate truth and allow criticism, fair criticism, to construct the future government of the country to prosper,” Nurul said.
She said it has been her eight-year-long goal since 2010 to see the law repealed.
During the previous Barisan Nasional (BN) rule, the regime was repeatedly urged to repeal the PPPA.
Ex-deputy prime minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who is also the former home minister, had in March said that he was open to reviewing the PPPA, after the general election.
Early this year, Reporters Without Borders listed Malaysia as number 146 out of 180 countries in a press freedom index.
