The Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has suggested that the draft amendments to the Bangladesh Press Council Act be made public, emphasising on taking stakeholders' opinions before finalising the amendments.
The anti-graft watchdog came up with the call in a press release issued on Sunday.
"Making public the drafts of laws to be framed or amended and taking stakeholders' opinions are the prerequisites of a fair democratic process. The country has followed the practice for almost all the laws made recently. However, the authorities are yet to publish the draft of the amendments of the Press Council Act despite working on it for several years," said TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman.
"Even it did not disclose the draft to stakeholders, including the Editors' Council and other journalist associations," he said, citing recently published reports in different newspapers.
"So, it is logical to raise the question whether the Bangladesh Press Council is resorting to this secrecy to control the media and journalists rather than protecting their interests and freedom with the law," he further added.
Since the law is directly related to the interests of the media and media workers, it is necessary to inform the stakeholders about the amendment at each step as well as take their opinions, the press release reads.
"We hope that the Press Council will release the draft online respecting the prevailing practice of the country."
Earlier on Saturday, the Editors' Council called on the top officials of the Bangladesh Press Council and said it is their right to know the details of the draft.
