ISLAMABAD, May 18: The press is enjoying greater freedom in the country than ever before, the PML-Q president, Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain, said on Sunday.

He was speaking at a reception hosted by the central president and chairman media committee of the PML-Q Syed Kabir Ali Wasti for journalists attending the biennial delegation meeting of PFUJ here at a local hotel.

Mr Hussain said politicians, claiming to be champions of press freedom, had been sending their opponents to jail during their previous governments.

He said the government was using the press as a guideline to correct the wrong things, and media had complete liberty to criticize the policies of the PML-Q-led government.

The party’s secretary-general Salim Saifullah Khan, Syed Kabir Ali Wasti, PFUJ leaders Abdul Hameed Chhapra, C.R.Shamsi and Pervez Shaukat also spoke to the gathering.

The PML-Q president said journalists were free to write the truth, but at the same time, they must ensure that they were reporting correctly without any bias.

He said factual reporting would certainly help good governance and solve problems of the poor and the downtrodden.

He said the government would solve genuine problems of the working journalists.

Referring to the demand of implementation of the 7th Wage Board for newspaper employees, he stressed for industrial peace in the media industry and vowed to solve the problems by taking newspaper owners into confidence.

The PML-Q secretary-general, Salim Saifullah Khan, appreciated the journalists for highlighting national issues and people’s problems.

He said media could play an important role in developing confidence of the masses in the government and leadership. He said the press and political parties were important institutions in any civilized society and the PML-Q would certainly take care of the problems being faced by mediapersons.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Wasti lauded the national press for its vital role in restoration of democratic institutions.

He said it was the press helping people struggle for their basic rights.

He was confident that the national press would play an effective role in strengthening national institutions and flourishing democracy.

Mr Chhapra and other PFUJ leaders lauded the struggle of Syed Kabir Ali Wasti for restoration of democracy and press freedom in the country.

Former information minister Senator Syed Mushahid Hussain, former foreign minister Gohar Ayub Khan, former foreign secretary-general Akram Zaki, senior editors, politicians and diplomats were also present on the occasion.