Information and Broadcasting Minister Muhammad Ali Durrani has said that the present assemblies would complete their tenure and the government couldn't be ousted through conspiracies and movements, adding that the change could be brought only through ballots.
He was addressing a reception he hosted in honour of office-bearers of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) here at a local hotel on Sunday.
Newly-elected PFUJ President Muhammad Nawaz Raza and RIUJ President Mohsin Raza also spoke on the occasion.
The minister said the government strongly believes in Press freedom and always welcomes healthy criticism, but criticism for the sake of criticism is against the soul of democracy and could even harm the democratic institutions.
Durrani congratulated the newly-elected office-bearers of the journalist's organisations and called upon them to play their due role in resolving the problems of working journalists. He said that very soon a three-party meeting would be convened to resolve the issue of 7th Wage Award.
The minister said that training programmes being started for journalists and in this connection an institution for the journalists training would be set up at every press club of the country. He said the government doesn't want to control media, adding that Pakistan is the only country of the Muslim World where Press has been given complete freedom.
Later, PFUJ President Muhammad Nawaz Raza, in his speech, praised the performance of the information minister, saying now the press-government relations have been improved. He also demanded of the minister to help resolve the long-standing issue of wage award.