The Parliament has accepted the motion calling on the government to create a conducive environment in which all the re-broadcasters in the country can operate their business in a fair and competitive manner without bias.
The motion was submitted by the MP for Naifaru Constituency Ahmed Shiyam. In the motion, he accused the members of the Broadcasting Commission of neglecting their duties but working under a certain influence to further the business of Medianet.
The motion was accepted by the Parliament by the votes of 28 MPs out of 37 MPs present at today's sitting. While 8 MPs were against the motion, 1 abstained from voting.
With this, the Parliament has now accepted the motion and forwarded it to Parliament's Joint Committee of its Independent Institution Committee and Regulations Committee.
The motion called on the government to create an environment where broadcasters can offer their services in an equal manner and not allow any one party to monopolize the whole market.
MP Shiyam had said that the re-broadcasting regulation goes against the rights guaranteed in the constitution. He further said that it has come to light that Medianet was paid a huge amount to let state broadcaster Public Service Media bring all the matches of the upcoming Fifa World Cup 2022 and that the government should make sure that all the matches can be viewed via the state broadcaster.
He also said that the decision not to allow cable TVs other than Medianet to give their service in resorts and other establishments was also made to benefit a certain party.
He further called on the relevant parliamentary committee to conduct an inquiry into how the members of the broadcasting commission are influenced and what is being held over them.
