KUALA LUMPUR, May 28 — Putrajaya must accept freedom of speech in its entirety if it intends to live up to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s pledge to empower journalists to hold government and corporations accountable, politicians from both sides of the divide said.

Leaders polled by The Malay Mail Online said while it is all well and good that Najib gave his backing for a more open media environment, it is not enough to just say it.

“The fundamental principle of freedom of speech and expression must be fully embraced and upheld. Not because there are laws on it, but because it is a celebrated virtue of democracy,” Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah said via text message.

The Umno man and former Temerloh MP said the government under Najib’s stewardship has eased up on regulatory controls over the media, citing the removal of annual renewal of publishing permits for news outlets previously required under the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984.

He stressed, however, that it takes more than piecemeal policy changes to empower the media and that such freedoms cannot be limited to just those that exist exclusively online.

“More needs to be done. If not a repeal of the whole PPPA, we definitely need to have a new worldview and framework in government relations with the media,” said Saifuddin, who now heads an organisation known as the Global Movement of Moderates.

PAS Research Centre Director Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad agreed that there needs to be more substance to back Najib’s words, especially since the media has long been “compromised” by unwieldy government regulations such as the PPPA.

While he prefers balanced and non-partisan journalism, Dzulkefly noted that the media cannot be faulted for editorialising content to draw eyeballs, such as the allegations of impropriety in the Terengganu mentri besar saga published by news portal Malaysiakini recently.

Najib’s office has since taken legal action against the portal for alleged defamation.

“Najib is right when he said the media must keep government in check. Saying it is easy. But the tougher thing is to allow it to really check the government from all misdoings, without being intimidated or sued for defamation.

“So where is the demarcation or the thin line? Alluding to the real experience in Perak to infer the possibility of it happening in Terengganu is about the only way to make news,” he said.

Dzulkefly was referring to the 2009 Perak constitutional crisis when Barisan Nasional (BN) took control of the state after the defection of three Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state lawmakers. In that instance, BN was repeatedly accused of masterminding the coup d’etat that led to PR’s fall from power.

“The onus is on the government to denounce or prove it wrong and unfounded,” Dzulkefly added.

PKR vice-president Nurul Izzah Anwar said it was hypocritical of Najib to speak of media freedom when the prime minister himself is embroiled in “an effort to clamp down against investigative journalism” by suing a news portal over something they had published.

“Defamatory laws exist to curb defamation, as such the PM should heed his own calls to be accountable — to all taxpayers, and end such intimidating language in an attempt to silence critics against his own government’s failures,” the Lembah Pantai MP said.

DAP national vice-chairman and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok homed in on media ownership by political parties in the ruling BN coalition, claiming that this segment of the media has constantly been abused to play up racial sentiments in the interests of a select few.

“Such unethical journalism is more destructive than constructive to nation building,” she said.

On Monday, Najib pledged to preserve the Internet as a medium for free debate and open discussion and backed the call for a more open media environment that would hold the government and corporations to account.

Speaking at the National Press Club awards night, he said a strong and vibrant media is an “essential part of a mature democracy”, and that society can only benefit when journalists are empowered to do their jobs.

He, however, stressed on the difference between “legitimate criticism, and defamation” in justifying his recent legal action against Malaysiakini, while assuring that it is not part of a wider agenda to silence critical voices.