The ban came a day after the journalists protested in the press galleries of the National Assembly against the ordinance empowering officials to seal premises and seize the equipments.
ISLAMABAD: Opening yet another front of confrontation with media, Pakistani authorities today banned the entry of journalists to Parliament, hours after suspending implementation of an ordinance imposing sweeping curbs on TV channels till a committee submitted a review report on it.
The ban came a day after the journalists protested in the press galleries of the National Assembly against the ordinance empowering officials to seal premises and seize the equipment of private's channels as well as against the registration of cases against some 250 scribes.
There were also reports of scuffle which started when members of the official media did not join the independent journalists in the boycott of the proceedings of the National Assembly.
When journalists arrived at the main gate of the National Assembly today they were told by police on duty that they cannot enter the parliament building as ordered by the Speaker of the National Assembly.
The journalists protested against the ban and described the government action as a move to create hurdles in performing their professional duties.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Sher Afghan Niazi said criminal proceedings should be launched against the media persons for yesterday's incident.
Journalists covering the Parliament said that non-journalists were allowed to sit at the press galleries to show that the scribes were divided over press restrictions.
When the reporters started chanting anti-government slogans in Parliament, the opposition lawmakers also raised slogans from the National Assembly hall, forcing the Speaker to adjourn the proceedings for 30 minutes.
Following this the Speaker cancelled all press cards issued to journalists for the budget session. All media groups were asked to nominate two members for Assembly's reporting.
Media organisations across Pakistan also observed a 'Black Day' on Thursday against the restrictions on private television channels.
Wearing black bands, thousands of journalists staged demonstrations in major cities, including the capital of Punjab province, Lahore.
An official announcement, however, here said the implementation of the ordinance promulgated by President Pervez Musharraf was put off till a six-member committee reviewed its contents and submitted its report.
The government stopped any proceedings under the Pakistan Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Amendment Ordinance against the electronic media till the committee reviewed recent changes in the ordinance and submitted its report to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
A late last night statement said the committee will submit its report to Aziz within the shortest possible time and till such time the proceedings under the PEMRA Amendment Ordinance, 2007, will not be initiated.
Before that, Aziz had a meeting with the owners of TV channels and newspapers to discuss the way out of the crisis and heard the representation made by the media delegation with respect to the withdrawal of the ordinance. It was decided that all options of PEMRA Amendment Ordinance would be reviewed in totality by the six-member committee.
Aziz assured the media delegation that all actions in this regard would be taken in a spirit of mutual tolerance and in the interest of principles of justice.
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