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Media get restricted access to meetings of Vietnamese legislature’s standing body

Media get restricted access to meetings of Vietnamese legislature’s standing body

Wednesday, July 12, 2017, 19:01 GMT+7

Reporters are barred from all but the first five minutes of meetings of the Standing Committee of Vietnam’s lawmaking National Assembly (NA), beginning on Tuesday, according to an announcement by the legislature’s General Secretary Nguyen Hanh Phuc.

The media will be provided with an official press release at the end of each meeting, Phuc said.

On Tuesday morning, reporters who arrived at the press center inside the NA headquarters in Hanoi to cover a session of its standing body were told that they would not be allowed inside the meeting room.

“Starting today, reporters will only be allowed to attend the first five minutes of each meeting,” an official from the NA Office told the media.

“A press release will be sent to reporters at the end of each working day.”

National secret?

According to Phuc, the new press restrictions have been put in place so that members of the NA’s standing body can discuss sensitive topics more openly and in-depth, without worrying about leaking national secrets.

“Sometimes the presence of the press can make delegates reluctant to speak their mind,” Phuc explained.

“There are issues involving national secrets that could be accidentally leaked during the meeting, in which case we would have to ask the press not to report it anyway. Therefore, this decision is to allow more in-depth discussions, including on topics concerning national secrets.”

Responding to the new restriction, legal and journalism experts have asserted the irreplaceable role of the press in covering events, especially those concerning the legislative body.

“Press releases are compiled from the viewpoints of those who issue them, while press coverage provides constituents and the public with a critical, multi-dimensional view on the event or issue being reported,” said Le Nhu Tien, former deputy chairman of the NA’s Committee on Culture, Education, Adolescents and Children.

“Constituents who elected the NA members need to understand not only the official announcements of the Standing Committee, but also the debates and arguments surrounding the issue as well as the stance of their elected representatives on it.”

A step backward

Sessions of the NA were broadcast live for the first time on the radio and television in 1994.

In 2002, then-NA Chairman Nguyen Van An made the milestone decision to open the doors of NA Standing Committee meetings to the press and media, commencing a tradition of openness that has been in place for the last 15 years.

“We are the representatives of the people, so it’s only fitting that the people should know what we say in these meetings,” An said when asked about his decision.

According to Le Nhu Tien, press restrictions may not be in line with current articles of the Constitution of Vietnam, which dictate that activities of the National Assembly remain open.

“While issues such as national defense and public security may relate to national secrets that cannot be leaked, the majority of discussions of the Standing Committee revolve around socio-economic and legal issues that have no reason to be off-limits to the press,” Tien said.

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