Joint opposition condemns PM's views on media

The joint opposition today criticized the statement made by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe concerning the media and said the statement was more a threat than a mere statement.

Former Media Minister and MP Keheliya Rambukwella said one of the key pledges made by the newly elected government was to establish media freedom but government leaders were openly pointing fingers at media personnel while threatening them.

“Members of the present government criticized some of our actions with regard to the media and came to power by promising a change in attitude. The people voted for them expecting such a change, but this has not happened so far,’ he told a news conference.

He said they already witnessed the true nature of our current leaders and some of them were known to oppress people.

“During our time, we may have had our disagreements with journalists during news briefings etc. but we didn’t continue the argument afterwards. But today, we can see open threats to them,” he said. (Lahiru Pothmulla)

Video by Richan