At a journalists' training programme organized by "Reporters Without Borders" (RWB) in Kabul city on Monday, Din Muhammad Mubarez Rashidi, the Deputy Minister for Information and Culture, emphasized on the need for approving the Right to Information (RTI) Law, so that the elections are held in a transparent manner.
Mr. Rashidi said that RTI is a necessity for the media outlets to work in an efficient manner. He assured that the Law would be approved before the 2014 Presidential election timeline.
"We will try to approve the RTI Law before the elections. If the law is not passed, it does not mean that the government institutions will not provide information. Those who avoid providing information are in fact committing a crime," said Mr. Rashidi.
However, the journalists' community blamed the Ministry of Information and Culture (MoIC) for intentionally delaying the approval of the Law.
Earlier this month, NAI, an Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) dedicated to "Supporting Open Media in Afghanistan," criticized the Council of Ministers for unnecessarily holding up the draft of the RTI Law for over two years and delaying its delivery to the Lower House for approval.
RTI legislation – a legal framework governing access to information – is abundant around the world, and considered an essential part of any country's formalized approach to government transparency, media and the rights of citizens to acquire information about their government.
NAI said that if Afghanistan's RTI law was not approved, the Afghan journalism community would continue to face problems of violence and censorship. The group further emphasized the importance of the law being implemented before the Presidential elections on April 5 as election seasons are considered particularly critical time for journalism.
The Office of Administrative Affairs and Council of Ministers Secretariat (OAACMS) in response to NAI's complaint said that the approval of the law was delayed due to numerous deficiencies in the draft, which required more time to address. Over two years have passed since the drafting of the law was initiated.
Meanwhile, Akram Shinwari, an official of the RWB, said that the seminar was organised to improve the journalistic skills of Afghan media professionals and teach them the intricacies of journalism, in line with the international standards.
"We distributed a handbook to the journalists during the seminar. It contains information about the principles and regulations about journalism, in accordance with the international standards. It will help the Afghan journalists during the elections," said Akram Shinwari.
Zia Bomya, the Head of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), said that since there are several challenges ahead of the 2014 elections, the media outlets should perform their duties honestly and find a solution for the challenges.
"In the upcoming elections, the mafias and other influential entities will try to buy media or put pressure on them to broadcast reports in favor of some specific candidate. But, the journalists should not get swayed away by the lucrative offers. They should rather perform their duties honestly," said Zia Bomya.
Few Tajik journalists also participated in the training programme and shared their views and expertise with the Afghan journalists.
"Such programs help the journalists to exchange views and learn from each other's experience. I hope that in the future, more such programmes are held," said Gul Afshan, a Tajik journalist.
This is the first time that a training programme for the journalists has been organized by the RWB in Afghanistan.