ARMENIAN GOVERNMENT AND PARLIAMENT DO NOT WANT TO BRING BROADCASTING LEGISLATION IN CORRESPONDENCE WITH PRINCIPLES OF FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, YEREVAN PRESS CLUB FIXES
Noyan Tapan
Mar 01 2007
YEREVAN, MARCH 1, NOYAN TAPAN. The Yerevan Press Club made a statement
on the occasion of the RA National Assembly’s adoption on February
26 the drafts "On Making Amendments to the RA Law "On Television
and Radio" and "On Making Amendments and Additions to the RA Law
"On Television and Radio National Committee Conception." According to
the Yerevan Press Club, adoption of those drafts proves that neither
the Armenian Government which prepared those drafts nor Parliament
are ready or want to improve the legislation on broadcasting, to
bring it in correspondence with modern principles of the liberty of
expression and international standards. "We again collide with secret,
"underground" preparation of drafts relating to the sphere of the
freedom of expression and their quick discussion and votion at the
National Assembly in the style of military levy," is mentioned in
the statement.
According to the statement authors, the argument, as if the
demand of brining the law in correspondence with the amended
Constitution dictated the quickened procedure, does not stand up to
any criticism. It is mentioned that more than a year passed after
making amendments to the RA Constitution, and both governmental
and parliamentary structures had enough time to hold discussions,
hearings, study the presented proposals, get experts’ estimations. And
as it is mentioned in the Yerevan Press Club statement, leading
the law-making process to simple stamping of legal acts serving to
political juncture of the moment does not at all speak about evidence
of their faithfulness to principles of democracy proclaimed by the
Armenian authorities and process of the European integration.
It is then said in the statement:
"The Yerevan Press Club and partner organizations many times
spread statements in 2005 that the principles of the draft to the
Constitutional amendments relating to the sphere of information,
particularly, to broadcast mass media do not create favourable
conditions for reformation of the legislation on the mass media sphere,
proposed alternative variants of amendments. But the parliamentary
majority pushed forward personal formulations with a obstinacy worth
being used on other occasions. The future development of events proved
our estimations’ being motivated: the amended Constitution essentially
limited prospects of the law-making process securing independence of
the body coordinating activity of television and radio.
At the same time, the amendments to the legislation on broadcasting
sphere adopted on February 26 do not use even that positive that exists
in the corresponding principles of the amended Constitution. First of
all, it is possible by these amendments to reach correlation of members
of the regulating body (of Television and Radio National Committee),
being appointed by the President and members being elected by the
Parliament, fixed by the Main Law only in 2011, after the fact when
the Television and Radio National Committee would have already held
a whole series of competitions for giving frequencies. The second,
the amendments do not secure the public-political variety of the
Television and Radio National Committee staff: the parliamentary
majority will make the decision on the National Assembly’s electing
Television and Radio National Committee members according to
the procedure being proposed. The parliamentary majority, as the
political practice of Armenia shows, is always in the same camp
with the President. In other words, the coordinating body, as it was
previously, will be formed exclusively from political forces being at
the wheel of power, and in this sense, amendment of the legislation
does not introduce anything new. The third, as it was previously,
the society’s participation in formation of the Television and Radio
National Committee and transparence of making decisions by it are
not secured. The forth, separation of the TRNC members into ones
being paid (constantly working TRNC Chairman and Deputy Chairman) and
ones not being paid, what causes big breach among their commisions
and violates the principle of collegiality of making decisions. The
fifth: widening of the sphere of TRNA commissions and involving public
broadcasting in it, what is envisaged by the amended Constitution,
is not followed by definition of mechanisms of regulating activity
of the Public Television and Radio Company by the National Committee.
The possibility was again lost to completely improve the law "On
Television and Radio," liquidate those numerous faults which existed
in it from the moment of adoption in October, 2000, and not only to
be limited by only those principles which contradicted the amended
Constitution.
The whole process of working out and adoption of the drafts "On
Making Amendments to the RA Law "On Television and Radio" and
"On Making amendments and Additions to the RA Law "On Television
and Radio National Committee Conception" showed obvious and cynic
ignoring of the journalist society’s opinion by the government and
parliamentary majority. No proposal of public organizations presented
to the expert’s conclusion in the way of final, ready draft to
the conception of reforms to the broadcasting legislation did not
deserve attention. Only separate observations, which pointed out
obvious technical mistakes of the official document, were taken into
consideration. It is a pity, the authorities’ demonstrative refusal
from discussing anything with interested sides becomes a tradition
in the Armenian legislative practice.
The call of the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly addressed,
to the RA authorities, concerning holding consultations with EU experts
before making amendments to the law "On Television and Radio" as well
as instructions of the OSCE Representative’s Office on Freedom of Media
and the proposal to hold expert examination of draft amendments were
ignored by the February 26 vote at the National Assembly. Formation
of the legislation on broadcasting corresponding standards of the
Council of Europe was one of the obligations undertaken by Armenia
when becoming a Council of Europe member, and the necessity of its
improvement in future was mentioned in numerous documents of that
international organization. But that process remains the evidence of
standing up to democratic reforms in the country.
The position of the parliamentary factions representing the ruling
coalition in this issue is still possible to explain by mutual
political obligations: even if draft amendments were presented just
by the coalition government. And it is even shameful to comment upon
behaviour of separate deputies considering themselves as "opposing" or
"independent," but voted for the drafts and assisted their adoption
just by it. Just they continuously protest against control of the
authorities over mass media being broadcast, while they strengthen
the existed situation by their vote."
All these, as it is mentioned in the Yerevan Press Club statement,
arise anxiety not only because of adoption of the two drafts, but,
taking into consideration, in general, the country’s public-political
state on the threshold of the parliamentary elections. According
to the statement authors, there are too many signs of the fact that
instead of stating political forces’ faithfulness to some values, the
expected electoral campaign threatens with turning into demonstration
of cynism, regressive moods and cult worship of time-serving.