The media ordinance issued by the royal administration on Sunday has drawn flak from different quarters including media rights groups and the political parties.

Dubbing the new ordinance as draconian, the Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ), the umbrella organisation of journalists in Nepal, has said it will launch strong protest against the ‘black ordinance’.

In a statement Monday, the FNJ said the ordinance was a severe blow to press freedom and added that independent journalists should stand against it. The FNJ also called on the journalists not to abide by the new laws.

The Save Free Radio Movement after a meeting on Monday decided to oppose the ordinance, announcing that radio stations would violate the new restrictive measures.

Similarly, the CPN (UML) in a press statement accused the government of conspiring against free press in the face of Dashain festival when most media houses remain closed. “This is a ploy to completely destroy the press freedom,” the UML stated.

Separately, speaking at an interaction organised by the Reporters Club in the capital Monday, UML general secretary Madhav Kumar Nepal said, “Naturally, anti-democratic elements make all kinds of attempts to sabotage the free press. Their plot will fail only when we resist them strongly.”

The UML leader also urged the journalistic community to go hand in hand with the ongoing pro-democracy movement of the parties and the civil society—in order to defend press freedom.

Meanwhile, issuing separate statements Monday, the People’s Front Nepal and the Nepal Workers and Peasants Party also denounced the new ordinance, stressing the need for strong resistance against the government’s move.

The media ordinance issued to amend Press and Publication Act (2048 B.S), Radio Act (2014), National Broadcasting Act (2048) and Defamation Act (2016 B.S) has incorporated tighter provisions concerning the publication and broadcast materials, ownership and penalty for defamation.

The promulgation of the ordinance had been delayed owing to protests from media rights groups led by FNJ, according to government sources.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Information and Communication has warned of action against those disobeying the measures upheld by the media ordinance.

In a press communiqué Monday, the ministry asked the FM stations to run programs under the new provisions while, it said, no FM stations would be allowed to broadcast programs run from one station to another. The ministry also asked the media houses not to deal with any news agencies without government’s permission.