Legislature Looks at Better Use of Information, Media

Legislature Looks at Better Use of Information, Media

Khmer Times/Pav Suy

Tuesday, 15 September 2015

PHNOM PENH (Khmer Times) – The General Secretariat of the National Assembly held a workshop on using information and communication technology to improve the transparency of the legislative branch.

The workshop was intended to strengthen the Assembly’s capacity in producing, managing, broadcasting and keeping people informed in the age of modernization.

It was held in cooperation with the cooperation with the Parliamentary Assembly of the Francophone (APF).

 Ket Khy, deputy secretary- general of the Assembly, said the workshp would help spread information about what the legislature does and how it operates.

“The workshop will promote the spread of information and more versatility,” he said.

Mireille Eza, director of APF’s Noria Program, said:

“We want to promote media professionalism in the way it works and deals with the public, especially to help voters understand the duties and activities of their members of parliament.

“Besides the conventional media that people are used to, such as television, radio and newspapers, there is also the arrival of and growth of social media and networking and it has had impact on the nature and contents on the parliamentary communication,” she said. The program was created in 2002 to strengthen  capacity in the area of the management of legislative information.

The strategy includes using social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Online news sites.

Social Media

Although the Assembly and Senate were using social media, they were having limited success spreading information about their mission, Mr. Sokha said, citing confusion over the Law on Association and Nongovernmental Organization (LANGO) that rights groups and the opposition say lacks transparency.

“There are some areas that need reforming and expanding,” he said. “Those areas are related to the provision and receipt of information from National Assembly and relationship between the assembly and the public.”

“The National Assembly and the Senate should disseminate draft laws and proposed laws according to each stage of the process to get feedback from the public before the adoption of the law.

French Parliament

“Just like the French parliament does.”

Mr. Sokha also raised the idea of television broadcasts of for the Assembly and the Senate.

“Currently, the legislative branch of Cambodia should reform and expand in a number of areas. It should have its own radio and television stations for broadcasting its own activities.”

He said other parliaments, especially in developed nations, had their own radio and television stations.

 “I think it’s a good idea that we should take into ... we need a true and independent broadcasting system.” said Kep Chuktema, a lawmaker from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

Political analyst Ou Virak said:

“It is not necessary to have another state television station. We should use the existing resources. We have state-owned TVK. TVK should allocate the time for the National Assembly and Senate.”

“[But] TVK must guarantee its neutrality in its broadcasting.”