A new media bill that would liberalise the airwaves and insulate the state-owned media in Mauritania from governmental control was adopted by the country’s National Assembly.
According to Hamdi Ould Mahjoub, the country’s Communication and Parliamentary Affairs minister, when the law comes into force it would not only liberalize the electronic media, but also, eliminate the monopoly of the state over public media.
The bill was expected to become a law in about ten months.
The bill which was first read in the National Assembly in 2008 was put on hold following the military Coup d’état on August 6, 2008. Prior to its suspension, a joint Senate-National Assembly Commission was supposed to have been established to amend it.
While commending the government for its resolve in passing this law, MFWA also encouraged them to ensure that they amend other repressive laws that jail journalists and censor the media in Mauritania.