OSCE media freedom representative urges Kyrgyzstan not to replace public service broadcaster’s board before elections

VIENNA, 15 June 2011 – The OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media, Dunja Mijatovic, today asked Kyrgyzstan’s President Roza Otunbayeva to send back to the Parliament a recently adopted law that would lead to the dismissal of the public service broadcaster’s advisory board.

“While I fully support adoption of a law that would legitimize the work of the public service broadcaster, I believe the timing is not right. Kyrgyzstan needs a strong functioning Advisory Board for its public service broadcaster before the forthcoming presidential election,” Mijatovic said.

Kyrgyzstan’s Parliament adopted the Law on Public Television and Radio Company on 9 June, which among other provisions foresees the dismissal of the current Advisory Board of the public service broadcaster. Mijatovic emphasized that this would provide insufficient time to appoint a new Board and ensure its effective operation ahead of the planned October presidential election.

“I ask President Otunbayeva to support the Board by using her constitutional right and sending the law in question back to the Parliament, to avoid the current Board’s dismissal and introduce further amendments,” Mijatovic said. “Dismissal of the Board, which has successfully begun to reform the public service broadcaster, would be a major setback.”