Maryam Nawaz brings new law to control publicity campaigns. Pakistanis call it ‘peak fascism'

The Print

19 hours ago

Tabled Thursday in the Punjab Assembly by Information Minister Azma Bokhari, the bill seeks to create a legal framework for 'awareness' around government initiatives, ostensibly to promote transparency and public engagement.
The Punjab government is preparing to pass the Punjab Public Awareness and Dissemination of Information Bill, 2025, a law that would grant the provincial administration broad and unchecked powers to design, launch, and control all public awareness campaigns. It will also shield those efforts from judicial review or public inquiry.
New Delhi: Pakistan's Big Brother tendencies are out in full public display. The Maryam Nawaz–led Punjab province, the country's largest, is now moving to shield its ruling party PML-N's PR machine from scrutiny from the masses and the courts. Pakistanis are calling it 'absolute shamelessness' and 'peak fascism'.
The bill further adds that no court, including civil courts, will have jurisdiction over any matter arising from or related to the Act. It grants broad legal immunity to the government, public bodies, information department officials, and employees, shielding them from any lawsuits, prosecutions, or legal proceedings for actions taken or intended to be taken in good faith under the Act or its rules, even if such actions cause or may cause harm.
But its critics see something else entirely: a legal firewall built to protect the ruling PML-N government, led by Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz, from mounting scrutiny over the use of public funds for political self-promotion.
'The aim is to stop journalists and citizens from questioning how much public money the Punjab govt has spent on ads and promoting itself,' Geo News journalist Benazir Shah posted on X.
A retroactive shield
According to Pakistani journalists, the most striking provision in the bill is its retroactive application: all PR campaigns undertaken since 1 January 2024, months before Punjab's last election, will be deemed lawful under the Act regardless of any ongoing or potential legal challenges.
This timing is not incidental. Both the Supreme Court and the Lahore High Court are currently hearing petitions that allege the Chief Minister misused public funds for personal publicity, including government-funded advertisements prominently featuring her image.
In February this year, the Punjab CM took out a 60-page advertisement featuring 170 photos of herself to mark her first anniversary since assuming office.
Once passed, the law would not only shield past spending from legal challenge but also prevent courts from hearing any future cases related to such campaigns.
No complaint against these campaigns may be brought before a court and only the Director General of Public Relations (DGPR) is authorised to receive grievances, effectively turning the government into both the executor and judge of its own PR operations. Appeals can be made to the Punjab information secretary, another government-appointed official, but not beyond.
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Silencing dissent
Under the new law, the government may run campaigns through any pre-qualified advertising agency across platforms, including billboards, television, radio, newspapers, cinemas, and digital media, and even rope in celebrities for endorsements.
The bill allows the state to name, rename, or alter public projects and disseminate messaging that includes not just the nature and cost of projects, but also 'the proponent of a project', a clause critics fear will be used to justify the repeated inclusion of political leaders' names and images in taxpayer-funded campaigns.
'There was a time these journalists could reach to the PM of Pakistan and catch him from his collar, now they can't question the corrupt most CM Punjab as to where she is spending public money ? And not only that no court can listen them too,' Talib wrote on X.
Azma Bokhari dismissed concerns that the bill was designed to muzzle dissent or hide public spending.
'It is a simple bill to empower the government to plan and execute awareness among the public about government initiatives and programmes,' Bokhari told Dawn.
'If Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has taken an initiative and spent billions of rupees, why should there not be a picture of the chief minister?,' she added.
The minister also refuted opposition claims that the government spent 'billions' on self-promotion. 'The PTI launched propaganda that we spent billions on a supplement. The cost did not even touch Rs1 billion,' she said.
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'A Country of Clowns, for Clowns'
Pakistanis were not surprised.
'Where are all the people who used to cry fascism a few years ago? Seems like they fled or are hiding under a rock,' Salman M wrote on X.
Others called it outright authoritarianism, drawing comparisons between Maryam Nawaz and former military ruler Zia-ul-Haq.
'No one has represented Zia-ul-haq from Pmln better than Maryam Nawaz,' Bilal Jatt said on X.
Another summed up the mood of the nation: 'A country of the clowns, for the clowns, by the clowns!'
(Edited by Aamaan Alam Khan)