The Reporters Forum for Election and Democracy (RFED) has strongly opposed the Election Commission’s newly formulated media guideline for the 13th National Parliamentary Election, terming them “anti-journalistic and undemocratic”.
A delegation, led by RFED president Kazi Jebel and general secretary Golam Rabbani, submitted a memorandum to Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at the EC headquarters on Wednesday, demanding immediate withdrawal of what they called a restrictive guideline.
Speaking to reporters after the meeting, Jebel issued a stern warning: “The EC formulated these rules without consulting journalists. We’re giving them 15 days to revise the guideline, otherwise media personnel won’t cover the polls under these conditions.”
The protest follows an emergency meeting RFED held earlier at the EC’s Media Centre, attended by its executive committee members and EC-assigned journalists.
The forum raised serious objections to four specific aspects—the guideline’s formulation without stakeholder consultation, unreasonable limits on the number of journalists and their duration at polling centres, a complete ban on interviews and live broadcasts and the inclusion of punitive measures without corresponding safety guarantees for journalists.
RFED leaders expressed grave concern that the current provisions would severely hamper election observation by media professionals, potentially compromising both press freedom and voters’ right to information.
They emphasised that such restrictions run counter to the principles of independent journalism and democratic electoral practices.