Newly-appointed Pakistan Television (PTV) Chairman Naeem Bukhari, who has also remained the lawyer of Prime Minister Imran Khan, has the national television will not broadcast any speeches by the opposition parties.
Bukhari’s comments pertaining to the blackout of the opposition on PTV came despite the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) manifesto that promised to transform PTV on the lines of BBC — the British state broadcaster. The ruling party had also protested during the PML-N government after the latter refused to allow PTI leaders air-time on PTV.
Speaking to reporters outside the Supreme Court building, Bukhari said there will be no equal air-time for the opposition parties on PTV, as being a state-run organisation, it will only air the stance of the incumbent regime. “Only government?” asked the reporter. “Yes, only government,” Bukhari said.
On Monday, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting notified Bukhari, who has a vast experience of doing TV programmes, as chairman of PTV. The appointment was made after a court ruling in Sept 2020 declared the appointments of PTV chairman Arshad Khan and independent members of the board of directors illegal while directing the government to fill the vacant slots in accordance with the law.
Bukhari, who has worked as an anchorperson and commentators on PTV for decades, had joined PTI in June 2016. At the time, he called Imran Khan the “only political leader who had the courage to speak the truth”. Bukhari also represented Imran when he went to the Supreme Court against then prime minister Nawaz Sharif following the Panama Papers leak.
The pleas that were later admitted by the apex court which disqualified Nawaz Sharif for being “dishonest” under Article 62 (1)(f).
The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) had also hired the services of Bukhari as a special prosecutor to take up cases against close confidants of Sharif brothers — former Lahore Development Authority chief Ahad Cheema and former principal secretary Fawad Hassan Fawad.
