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©New Sunday Times (Used by permission)

KUALA LUMPUR: Rembau member of parliament Khairy Jamaludin has proposed the establishment of a Press complaints commission.

He cited as an example the UK Press Complaints Commission, an independent body that enforces the Code of Practices covering issues like accuracy of reporting, opportunity of aggrieved parties to reply, harassment by reporters and payment to criminals.

"I'm sure you have thoughts on how the role of the Home Ministry's unit that supervises the reporting of sensitive issues and other licensing requirements could be taken over by such a Commission.

"This concept is not new. For example, the Swedish Press Council is over 85 years old. It is true that these are developed countries with mature democracies. But are we, too, not an almost developed country with an increasingly mature democracy?" he asked.

Khairy was speaking at the National Union of Journalists Malaysia forum entitled: General Election 2008: Press Freedom?"

He said for those who felt the present system of government regulation was necessary because of racial or religious sensitivities, these concerns could still be addressed under independent regulation.

Khairy later said he would bring up the issue in Parliament tomorrow.

He added that once one had thought through a roadmap that held at its heart both freedom and responsibility in equal measure, then the Printing Presses and Publications Act should be repealed.

"We should not be afraid of this brave new world of journalism, but rather help strengthen it so that Malaysians will benefit from getting credible news.

"Without these reforms, truth is obscured and sentiment and innuendo reign supreme," he said.

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