Lebanese Ministry of Information
Caretaker Minister of Information, Ziad Makary, on Tuesday visited the “Samir Kassir Foundation” accompanied by his Francophone Affairs Advisor, Elissar Naddaf, and his Media Advisor, Misbah al-Ali.
Caretaker Minister Makary tackled with the Foundation’s officials the conditions of the media sector, especially the issue of violations and breaches related to the safety of media professionals.
Discussions touched on the issue of liberties, whereby Minister Makary expressed his keenness on this matter, which he considers a “fundamental issue”, stressing that “the Ministry of Information is the Ministry of Information and liberties.”
Makary also expressed keenness on holding discussions with all sides, listening to all observations, and strengthening the joint relationship with the various parties and sides concerned with the media domain.
Following the meeting, the Executive Director of the Samir Kassir Foundation, Ayman Muhanna, said: “The visit was an occasion to talk about the reality of freedoms and media in Lebanon. We stressed the need to develop the media law, as the current version in Parliament does not meet our aspirations.”
Makary, in turn, said: “With regard to the media law, we will publish the existing law on the website of the Ministry of Information, and it will be presented to everyone for giving remarks on it, in order to have a joint outcome with everyone.”
The Minister called on the Samir Kassir Foundation to “put its observations in this regard,” pointing out that “after a month, there will be intensive meetings so that we can send, as soon as possible, the new law to the joint parliamentary committees, all associations and bodies, including UNESCO, in order to reach a media law reflecting our ambitions in terms of preserving liberty to the fullest extent.”
NNA
