Unfair media access: PR should boycott polls
Pakatan Rakyat has an important case to make to Malaysia and the world by standing firm and refusing to go to the elections without equal media access.
Although the media in Malaysia does not primarily decide the outcome of elections, its role in influencing the decision-making process of the electorate is crucial and needs to take place on a level playing field.
Lim Teck Ghee, FMT
Even before the dust has set on the fixing of the polling date, the Barisan Nasional had already begun the hijacking of the elections.
With the apparent connivance of the Election Commission (EC) – the pit bull ensuring BN’s electoral victory for the past 12 general elections – they have imposed a 10-minute slot for Pakatan Rakyat parties to explain their polls manifesto over the official media.
According to Rais Yatim, the Information, Communications and Culture caretaker minister, the short time offered to Pakatan will be more than enough to showcase their pledges.
Although an attempt has been made by the EC at damage control over the government’s ludicrous but at the same time deadly serious intent – it has explained that the opposition had misunderstood the offer which was intended to be serial and not one-time – the objective of the government is clear.
This is to use its monopoly of the official (and much of the unofficial print) media to ensure a BN election victory by seeing to it that the public – especially rural and Malay voters – will hear only the good side and promises of the BN and to downplay, ignore or demonize the Pakatan side.
Quite rightly, the Pakatan has snubbed the offer in response, calling it a “joke” and a mockery of press freedom.
In fact, media manipulation has been one of the cornerstones of the BN’s remarkable record of cheating and trickery in the elections over the past 50 years. So it is not surprising that the BN and its partner in electoral crime, the EC, will want the racket to continue.
And it will continue until the strongest possible stand is made against it.
Although the media in Malaysia does not primarily decide the outcome of elections, its role in influencing the decision-making process of the electorate is crucial and needs to take place on a level playing field.
Free and fair access to media should be what our electorate deserves, not media coverage which is saturated by BN propaganda and political advertisement overkill.
What is puzzling for now is the timidity of the opposition response. Although leaders from the opposition pact have maintained that they want equal media access in the mainstream media and television stations controlled by the government (RTM)) or by companies that are closely linked to the BN (the New Straits Times, The Star, Utusan Malaysia, etc), they appear to have forgotten or decided not to draw a line in the sand on this No.1 game changer.
Surely the opposition must be aware that any decision to limit them to anything less than equal time over official media for the elections will make a mockery of the democratic process.
Boycott the elections
Not only that, this blocking of media access will also hurt – if not – kill the Pakatan’s chances of winning power in Putrajaya.
Although Pakatan parties have rightly rejected the offer, they need to go further and to insist on equal time as a precondition for participation in the elections or else they will boycott it.
Such a stand is not as extreme as it may appear.
