Search Results
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27 August 2013
Pakistani Province Issues RTI Ordinance; Changes Urged
The Pakistani province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa on Aug. 13 promulgated a Right to Information Ordinance. The ordinance (official site) (Word version) is better an earlier version, according to advocates, but they said it still needs improvements. The ordinance, which has a 90-daye life-span, must be presented before the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Assembly for review. Critics believe that […]
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29 July 2013
Pakistan Activists Object to Draft RTI Ordinance in KP
Civil society groups are objecting that the proposed right to information ordinance in Pakistan’s province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was watered down. The Coalition on Right of Information (CRTI) and allies held a press conference July 24 recently to oppose the bill which was changed in early July by the Cabinet. CRTI coordinator Zahid Abddullah said […]
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19 July 2013
Steps Toward RTI in Pakistan Provinces Considered Inadequate
(The following article was prepared by the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) and summarizes a longer report.) Rhetoric aside, the PML-N (the Pakistan Muslim League Nawaz) and PTI (the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf) are awkwardly alike in denying the public the right to information as their provincial governments in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have […]
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10 July 2013
Action Seen on RTI Seen on Several Fronts in Pakistan
The Cabinet of the Pakistan province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on July 9 approved a right to information bill, according to a report in The Nation. In the meantime, a committee in Punjab province is considering an RTI bill that observers had thought was nearly final. At the national level, a Senate subcommittee held a session […]
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21 June 2013
Critics Score Emerging Pakistani FOI Legislation
A developing Pakistani freedom of information law is getting poor initial reviews. A Senate subcommittee recently produced a long-awaiting national bill (text). (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) Zahid Abdullah, Coordinator Coalition on Right to Information (CRTI), sharply criticized the bill in a statement. “There is a long negative list … and a small positive list of […]
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14 June 2013
Pakistan Subcommittee OKs Draft RTI Legislation
A subcommittee of Pakistan’s Senate Committee on Information and Broadcasting June 13 approved a draft Right to Information (RTI) Act 2013, The three-person committee rejected a last-minute request to delay from the Ministry of Defense, with one senator saying the ministry had been “contemptuous.” The Information Ministry has agreed to update the proposal in light […]
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5 April 2013
Pakistan Senate Panel Tells Ministry to Present FOI Law
The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting in Pakistan on April 5 gave the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting 15 days to table a draft of Freedom of Information law before the committee. The directive was issued during the committee meeting chaired by Kamil Ali Agha at the Parliament House, according to an Associated […]
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10 December 2012
Pakistan Government May Propose RTI Legislation
Pakistan’s coalition government will soon present a right to information bill to parliament, according to the RTI advocacy group Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI). In July, Pakistan’s Senate formed a subcommittee to work with the information ministry to develop freedom of information legislation. (See previous FreedomInfo.org report.) CPDI Program Manager Zahid Abdullah reported […]
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20 July 2012
Pakistan Senate Forms Committee to Study FOI
Pakistan’s Senate has formed a subcommittee to work with the information ministry to develop freedom of information legislation. The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting on July 18 approved establishment of the committee, which will be convened by Senator Farhatullah Babar, with senators Syed Zafar Ali Shah and Daud Khan Achakzai as members. The […]
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6 July 2012
Pakistani Agencies Fail When Tested, CPDI Study Finds
Only two out of 54 Pakistani federal and provincial departments initially provided information information requested by the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) in a recent study. Twenty-five departments responded positively but after the applicant got help from the federal or provincial ombudsman. CPDI concluded that the federal and provincial governments should repeal the […]
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25 April 2012
Effective RTI Law Needed in Pakistan; Model Law Drafted
By Muhammad Aftab Alam Alam is the executive director of the newly established Institute for Research, Advocacy and Development (IRADA), a new not-for-profit Pakistani independent policy, advocacy, research and training organization. This article first appeared in The News and is reprinted with permission of the author. “The Indian Right to Information Act, 2005 and its […]
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27 January 2012
Ruling Underscores Need for RTI Bill in Pakistan
By Ikramul Hag and Huzaima Bukhari The writers are lawyers and visiting professors at the Lahore University of Management Sciences. This article first appeared Jan 17 in The News, and is reprinted by permission of the authors. “Every citizen shall have the right to have access to information in all matters of public importance subject […]
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14 October 2011
Rehman Offers RTI Bill in Pakistan National Assembly
Member of Parliament Sherry Rehman Oct. 11 introduced a right to information bill in the Pakistan National Assembly. Her bill, however, does not yet have the support of the government. The government “did not oppose the private member’s bill,” noted one newspaper report. “It is ironic that it has been tabled as a private member’s […]
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30 September 2011
Islamabad Declaration Seeks Pakistan Movement on FOI
A declaration issued Sept. 28 from an international conference on right to information held in Islamabad, Pakistan, calls for the federal and provincial governments to enact right to information laws. The “Islamabad Declaration” outlines the basics of what should be in good RTI statutes, according to an article by Myra Imran in The News. The […]
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17 June 2011
Pakistani Group Seeks Appointment of Ombudsman
The Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives (CPDI) has called for the appointment of the Federal Ombudsman in Pakistan, pointing out that the position has been vacant since the end of October 2010. The Office of the Federal Ombudsman was established as the result of President’s order 1 of 1983, CPDI noted, with the purpose […]
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24 March 2011
Pakistani Activists Urge Promise-Keeping on RTI
The Pakistan government should fulfill its promise to enact a new right to information law, activists said during a demonstration in Islamabad. A March 17 walk to the parliament building was organized by the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives. They asked why top officials have not fulfilled pledges to replace the Freedom of Information […]
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25 February 2011
Pakistani RTI Supporters Rally for Law in Punjab Province
By Zahid Abdullah The writer is based in Islamabad, Pakistan, and works for the Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives They had gathered to protest about the denial of their right to information. The venue was the road in front of Rawalpindi Press Club and the date Feb. 22, 2011. There were only sixty of […]
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24 January 2011
Pakistani Official Says FOI Proposal Nearing Completion
A top Pakistani official said Jan. 22 that that a draft right to information bill would be finalized by mid-February, according to a press account. Speaking at a meeting of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting, Pakistan’s Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Qamar Zaman Kaira, said consultations with stakeholders are nearly concluded. […]
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5 November 2010
Request Problems in Pakistan Documented in Article
Several examples of the difficulties of accessing information in Pakistan were discussed in a recent article by Zahid Abdullah, who works for Centre for Peace and Development Initiatives. The Pakistan law, he said, is “a very weak law in the shape of Freedom of Information Ordinance 2002 and whatever effectiveness it had was watered down […]
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17 July 2008
PAKISTAN: Access to Information Advocates Criticize Proposed Freedom of Information Bill
The Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) this week held a consultation on the draft Freedom of Information Bill of 2008, which is likely to soon be tabled for consideration by the legislature. The CRCP, which has been working for to strengthen the freedom of information (FOI) framework in Pakistan since 1998, expressed reservations about […]