The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) led National People’s Power (NPP) and the Samagi Jana Balawegaya (SJB) of the Parliamentary Opposition is to take every possible effort to stop the proposed Electronic Broadcasting Authority Bill as it constitutes a threat to fundamental human rights such as the freedom of expression, The Daily Morning learnt.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (1), JVP member, Attorney Sunil Watagala claimed that this proposed new Bill is a replica of the Anti-Terrorism Bill (ATB) which has now been temporarily withdrawn by the Government. “The Government tries to repress the public by imposing various repressive laws such as the Anti-Terrorism Bill. However, they had to withdraw it temporarily with the huge opposition of the political parties and various civil society organisations. But now, they have brought the same repressive laws under the guise of a proposed Electronic Broadcasting Authority Bill. If anyone studies this proposed Bill very carefully, he/she will note plenty of similarities between the Anti-Terrorism Bill and the proposed Electronic Broadcasting Authority Bill. So, the NPP will be doing every possible thing to stop this proposed Bill being a law,” he said. Watagala also said that the public must be aware of these kinds of laws that could curtail the fundamental human rights that they are enjoying and should therefore not allow a Government without a mandate to make such crucial laws that could leave a serious impact on the democracy of the country. “According to Section 80 of the Anti-Terrorism Bill, the Government can ban any political party or organisation if that has any connection with so-called terrorist actions or organisations. The same thing is apparently included in this proposed new Electronic Broadcasting Authority Bill in different words. According to the proposed Bill, the proposed Regulatory Commission can ban the broadcasting licence of any institution that violates the rules and regulations issued by the Commission.  The Commission can also question any media institution if anyone violates the code of ethics given by the Commission. In the same way, the President is able to question suspects if they are arrested under a future Anti-Terrorism Act, if the relevant Bill becomes law. So, we can see how identical these two Bills are,” he claimed.

Meanwhile, SJB Parliamentarians Dr. Harsha de Silva and Eran Wickramaratne on Wednesday (31) vehemently criticised the Government's proposed Electronic Broadcasting Authority Bill. Dr. de Silva claimed that this legislation, touted as an effort to advance the mass media, actually serves as a tool for the Government to crackdown on and manipulate the media to suit its own agenda, adding that the proposed Electronic Broadcasting Authority Bill contains provisions that enable the Government to exert pressure on and control media outlets that do not align with its ideology. Such measures, he argued, are fundamentally incompatible with the principles of a democratic society. Wickramaratne claimed that the Government is now working to bring a new broadcasting law to control the media. Wickramaratne also accused the Government of seeking to enact new laws to oppress those who have dissenting views, rather than proving its integrity in governance.