Media bill set for Tuesday passage

The ruling People's National Congress (PNC), holding a supermajority in parliament, is preparing to pass a controversial bill aimed at media regulation on Tuesday.

Introduced last month by independently elected MP Abdul Hannan Abubakr, the media bill has drawn strong criticism from journalists, who argue it would curtail freedom of expression.

Despite widespread concern, the bill was accepted by parliament and sent to the Independent Institutions Committee for review. The Attorney General's Office subsequently proposed 14 amendments in response to journalists' appeals.

The Independent Institutions Committee approved the bill on Monday, incorporating both the proposed amendments and additional changes. This decision was met with protests from Maldivian Democratic Party (MDP) MPs and journalists present at the committee session.

Following the committee's approval, a senior PNC MP informed Sun that the party intends to pass the bill as quickly as possible, scheduling an out-of-session sitting for Tuesday. "The bill has been passed by the committee with solutions to all the main concerns. The idea is to pass the bill on Tuesday," the MP stated.

While the agenda for Tuesday's session has not yet been officially released by parliament, the PNC MP confirmed the bill's inclusion. With 75 members, the PNC is expected to easily secure its passage.

The committee's decision to pass the media bill comes despite a petition signed by 151 journalists calling for its repeal. Earlier, concerns were also raised by the Human Rights Commission of Maldives (HRCM), the MMC, BroadCom, and various foreign press freedom organizations, which described the bill as a "destruction" of free press.

Conversely, the government continues to defend the bill, with pro-government MPs maintaining that it will empower, not control, journalists and that journalists' concerns were addressed at the committee stage.