President of the Maldives Broadcasting Commission (Broadcom) Mariyam Waheedha urged the media to adhere to the guidelines while covering the ongoing parliamentary elections.
Speaking at an interview given to PSM News, Mariyam Waheedha highlighted several efforts related to the preparations for the parliamentary elections. As such, efforts to increase awareness and monitoring the content broadcast have begun. She also affirmed that in the event of any issue or problems arising, the Broadcom will work to resolve the case promptly, with the assistance of the Fast Track Committee. On this stance, she highlighted that campaigning after the restricted hours being the most common issue during the elections.
Additionally, Mariyam Waheedha stated that each election must prioritise to ensure equal opportunities are provided to all parties to cast votes, while also disseminating pertain information to the residents with integrity. The responsibilities of broadcasters include broadcasting programmes aiming to increase awareness of voters, allocating equal time slots for each individual candidate and presenting news with integrity and without bias.
Furthermore, during the elections, reporters, and presenters are required to be protected under the guideline issued for broadcasters covering political content. As such, it is imperative that broadcasters are able to execute necessary tasks without encountering any obstacle. Broadcasters including reporters and presenters also have to respect security orders given, as per the guideline issued.