Government committed to press freedom: PM Koirala

Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala has said the government was committed to press freedom in the country.

During a meeting with the visiting delegation of South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA) on Wednesday morning, Koirala assured that the government was committed to protect the rights of journalists and press freedom and in accordance to that, the cabinet decided to scrap the media ordinance on Tuesday.

Koirala stressed that the present crisis would be solved only when the Maoists are brought to the political mainstream.

The SAFMA team led by its general secretary Imtiaz Alam asked government not to formulate any policies that hamper press freedom and freedom of expression in Nepal.

The meeting was held for more than an hour at the prime minister's residence in Baluwatar.

The delegation also held meetings with various other political leaders including UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal, president of Nepali Congress (Democratic) Sher Bahadur Deuba and Deputy Prime Minister KP Oli on Tuesday. The delegation also met Lila Mani Pokhrel of People's Front and CP Mainali of CPN (ML) earlier.

The team arrived in Kathmandu on Sunday to review the situation of press freedom after the restoration of democracy. nepalnews.com ia May 10 06

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