KARACHI, Aug 20: The All Pakistan Newspapers Society has criticized the federal cabinet's reported decision to link government advertisements with implementation of the Seventh Wage Award.

A press release says that a meeting of the APNS executive committee held under the chairmanship of Mr Arif Nizami noted that government advertisements were issued from the public exchequer and catered to the requirements of advertisers and hence should not be released on the whims and wishes of the Press Information Department.

The APNS had always opposed centralization policy of government advertising which has been used as a lever to suppress and victimize the dissenting press. The executive committee rejected any linkage between government advertisements and wages and termed it as another tool to victimize the press. It also noted that the implementation of the wage board did not come under the purview of the cabinet as there was a separate statutory body for this purpose.

The APNS noted with concern that despite meetings with Prime Minister Shujaat Hussain and Mr Shaukat Aziz, the press-government relations had not improved. The prime minister had assured that the ban on government advertisements to Nawa-i-Waqt, The Nation would be lifted within a week, but no effort had been made in this regard.

The APNS expressed its dismay over the passage of the Defamation Amendment Bill in the National Assembly although the prime minister in his meeting with the APNS and the CPNE held on Aug 11, had agreed that reservations of press bodies on proposed amendments would be given due weight.