“Do not Gag Us!”

Since we, the photojournalists, also have limited access to Parliament, I stopped going there. I boycott them! In the 15 minutes at the beginning of the meetings, when we have access to the meeting room, when the lawmakers know they are watched, nothing happens that would deserve being made public.

Our MPs should understand that I, as well as the public, are not interested in taking their portraits, we are interested in seeing what price is paid for the laws to be adopted, what schemes they agree upon behind the scene, where the cameras set up by them do not reach. Limiting our presence in Parliament and granting media access only to the information that they want to convey means that we, in turn, would convey to the public skewed truth. This is manipulation!

Let me give you an example. When they voted for the Prime Minister, (only) photographers had access to the entire meeting. I watched very carefully how they voted and what questions were addressed to the Prime Minister. From the press room, the reporters were probably not aware that the Prime Minister read all answers to the questions. It means that the Prime Minister had prepared the answers in advance, including the answers to the questions asked by the Communists. He knew what to answer to Mr. Voronin, but did not know what to answer to the Socialists and muttered something unintelligible. It was the clue that uncovered the prearranged scenario of the three parties that had voted the Cabinet. What the press saw from the 'fold' was censored by the cameras in the meeting room; what was truly happening could be understood only by following the reactions of the MPs, who, when asking questions, nodded, encouraging the candidate, as if he were a child on his first day at school.

That is what we want to capture and convey: the truth! We want our lawmakers to be fair in their relation with those who voted for them and not to gag us, the media!

NOTE: The Independent Journalism Center (IJC) holds awareness raising events under the slogan “We Want Access into Parliament!” on all days when Parliament holds plenary meetings. The Campaign aims to ensure free access of the media to Parliament meetings, so that the media can freely perform their duties.

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The “We Want into Parliament!” campaign is conducted within the Advocacy Campaigns Aimed at Improving Transparency of Media Ownership, Access to Information and Promotion of EU Values and Integration Project, implemented by the IJC, which is, in its turn, part of the Moldova Partnerships for Sustainable Civil Society project, implemented by FHI 360.