Media access restricted, says Iguan

SPEAKER of Parliament has made a decision on where in Parliament media personnel can and cannot access, says Acting Speaker Koni Iguan.
“I have made this decision under the enabling power of the Parliamentary Privileges and Powers Act, Section 108 of the Constitution, to determine what areas of the National Parliament building media personnel may and may not access,” he said.
Iguan said that the decision did not remove the media’s right to freedom of expression and publication.
He made this statement in relation to an editorial note in a recent issue of the Post Courier in which they had called out the chair and parliament for restricting the movement of media personnel to certain areas in Parliament.
“Section 108, subsection one of the Constitution states that the Speaker is responsible for upholding the dignity of Parliament, maintaining order in it, regulating its proceeding and administering its affairs,” he said.
He said access to different areas in Parliament and its grounds was granted to certain people and groups for different purposes. This applies to visitors as well.
He said that visitors, especially the media, needed to be aware of these things.
He said the freedom of movement could be restricted under Section 38 of the Constitution “for reasonable purposes”.