Senate's media directorate makes details of body's 'in camera' session public

In a development that has raised eyebrows, Senate Standing Committee on Postal Services held open proceedings of its session which was supposed to be 'in camera' and Senate Media Directorate issued a press release containing the details of this 'in camera' session.

In an apparently strange turn of events, shortly before the meeting began, the journalists who had reached the Parliament House to cover the committee's proceedings were informed by the Senate staff that the meeting would be in camera or confidential, implying that media coverage of the meeting would not be allowed keeping in view that it was an in camera session despite that the meeting's agenda had already been publicly issued.

Senator Ateeq Shaikh from Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), who is the chairman of the Senate Standing Committee on Postal Services, presided over the meeting. However, as the meeting started, it emerged that there was nothing 'confidential' regarding the meeting and its proceedings were open to media coverage. Moreover, the four-point agenda issued before the committee meeting did not apparently include anything that warranted an in camera meeting.

The four-point agenda included; i) Consideration of work carried out by the committee since 2018, ii) Briefing on current activities of the committee by secretary committee, iii) To work out the future plan and working of the committee, iv) any other item with the permission of the chair.

Interestingly, a press release issued by Senate's Media Directorate after the committee's meeting went on to read, "The Senate Standing Committee on Postal Services convened an in camera meeting on Thursday, to determine the committee's further course of action in conjunction with members. In addition to this the committee deliberated over work carried out by the committee since 2018 and current activities of the standing committee."

A source in the Senate Secretariat accused Senate's Media Directorate for what he said was 'blunder' on part of the Senate's media officials. "An in camera meeting means that the proceedings of the meeting are supposed to be off the record and to be kept secret from public and press. How, in the first place, details can be issued of something that was in camera. This is a huge blunder of Senate's Media Directorate."

The source said that it is the responsibility of the Senate Secretariat, particularly the Media Directorate, to ensure that no compromised, erroneous or flawed content is issued to the press from the forum of Senate. "In this case, it appears that both; the Senate's Media Directorate as well as the Senate Secretariat are unaware of the meaning of the word 'in camera.' Otherwise, this blunder should not have happened."

Business Recorder tried to contact Senator Ateeq Shaikh for his comments on the matter but he was not available. Majority of the members who attended the Thursday meeting comprised senators from opposition. These included Rana Mahmood ul Hassan (Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz), Anwar Lal Dean (Pakistan Peoples Party), Islamuddin Shaikh (PPP), Mushtaq Ahmed (Jamaat-e-Islami). Independent senators Mirza Muhammad Afridi and Aurangzeb Khan, who are part of treasury benches, also attended the meeting.

Leader of the Opposition in Senate Raja Zafar-ul-Haq, when contacted, expressed ignorance regarding the meeting details. He, however, agreed that the details of an in camera meeting cannot be made public. "It is not in my knowledge if any such meeting has taken place but if the meeting was supposed to be in camera, then its details should not have been made public," he said.

Meanwhile, according to the Senate Secretariat's press release, Ateeq Shaikh, during the committee's meeting, "lauded the efforts of the members and assured them that under his chairmanship and with the help of the committee members no stone will be left unturned to take the institution forward. He thanked the members of the committee for their suggestions and said that this is opportunity for them to make a difference for Pakistan's future generations."

He added that keeping in view recommendations, the committee will ensure that compliance status be reviewed in every meeting and with a collective view decisions will be taken to formulate further action for the betterment of Pakistan.

The committee recommended that issues of land recovery, irregular appointments, accumulated losses and business initiatives "must be taken up." It also stressed on the government to make serious efforts for re-branding of post offices on modernised lines.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019