Islamabad:
The Free and Fair Election Network (FAFEN) has called on the government to take on extensive legal reforms to strengthen the implementation of the Law on Access to Information, 2017.
In a political map entitled ‘Strengthen the Right to Information (RTI) in Pakistan’, released on Sunday, Fafen emphasized that while Pakistan’s RTI frame is among the most progressive, its effectiveness has been hampered by institutional inertia, ambiguous legal provisions and weak enforcement mechanisms.
The deficiencies have prevented the law from achieving its intended goal of securing the government’s transparency.
The absence of timely information about actions, decisions and expenses from public bodies races destabilizing incorrect information and disinformation.
“The fafen is convinced that strengthening the RTI -law framework will serve as a bulwark in the government’s efforts to address disinformation that elaborates on political polarization in the country,” Fafen said.
As part of its ongoing “Moding Disinformation” campaign has already made an assessment of the sites for federal ministries and departments and found a low level of compliance with the provisions of the RTI Act, 2017.
Similar assessments are ongoing for provincial departments.
The FAF said that greater independence and powers of Pakistan Information Commission (PIC) will enable it to effectively enforce the provisions of the Public Bodies Act, which is critical of increasing government transparency and counter -discovery.
In his political map, Fafen called for parliament to further strengthen RTI -lawful frameworks by removing ambiguities and strengthening pic to lead enforcement efforts rather than simply serving as an appeal forum.
Suggested changes include specification of clear deadlines for proactive information and digitization of items, expansion of the scope of public registers, reforming the process of appointing and removing information commissioners and mandates for public bodies to submit to compliance reports on the law’s requirements for the image.
FAFEN recommends a more consultative approach to the appointment and removal of information commissioners through a Bipartisan Parliamentary Committee with equal representation from the Treasury and the opposition.
Transferring this responsibility away from performing control and ensuring the Commission’s financial independence through changes to section 21 would enable it to act as a more efficient supervisory body.
The FAF’s political brief also emphasized the need for public bodies to move in addition to simply sending raw data online.
Instead, it recommended the image to establish standardized, user -friendly registration formats and practices, including searchable databases, clear summary and intuitive indices to improve accessibility.
