Media freedom in Vanuatu

Freedom of information: defensiveness of the government

Transparency International Vanuatu would like to express its concern about the reaction of the spokesperson of the Prime Minister's office when the media raises a genuine issue, in this case the Daily Post's editorial last week about the decline of the public prosecutor's office, and the apparent lack of decisive action by the government concerning law and order generally.

There is no doubt that it was negligent on the part of those concerned not to start the process of recruiting a new public prosecutor at least a few months before the contract of the outgoing public prosecutor ended, and also not to ensure that six prosecutors are hired to work in the office.

Successive Vanuatu governments have become their own worst enemy by continuing to ignore or relegate to low priority nearly everything to do with law and order - e.g. : sorting out the massive problems within the police force; doing little or nothing to prosecute leaders accused of corruption; pardoning for political reasons those few who have been convicted, etc.

It is entirely appropriate for the media to ask, "Who will prosecute the case against the former Minister this week?"

With such a record of foot-dragging and indifference over so many years, neither the government nor its current spokesperson can be surprised if the media and public are sceptical about their commitment to a properly functioning law and order structure within the country, especially when there is only one junior member of staff left to keep the office open.

The correct response to soundly based criticism should not be defensiveness, but rather a recognition of the problem and a commitment to tackle it.

The proper way for any government to relate to the media is not to attack it, and certainly not to create laws that may restrict its freedom, as many fear is the intention behind the proposed Gross Media Ownership Bill.

Any new media law should be drawn up with the consultation of those involved in the media, and civil society. It is to be hoped that such an important bill will receive similar time for "consultation" as the Family Protection Bill, since it concerns one of the major human rights.

This issue is all the more important this week as the 3rd of May is World Press Freedom Day.

After 25 years of independence government leaders and other officials should be able to handle media or public criticism in a mature and constructive way. Being transparent and accountable to the public should by now be normal for our leaders in their political and administrative life. One of the major tests of any regime is how it reacts to criticism.