DOZENS of members of the Afghan parliament walked out of a session yesterday to protest against a television station that has been airing what the politicians regard as unflattering footage of them. The privately owned television station, Tolo, has screened pictures of MPs yawning, napping and picking their noses during debates, infuriating some members of the national assembly.
Funny, but I can picture it.
"I am leaving the session unless Tolo is sent out of parliament," a female member, Safia Sediqi, told the assembly. A short while later she and dozens of colleagues walked out. The parliament, elected in landmark polls last year, is a mixed bag of former anti-Soviet guerrillas, warlords, technocrats, female activists, as well as some former communists and apparently reformed former Taleban members.
Tolo is among a handful of private television channels that have sprung up along with scores of radio stations and publications since the overthrow of the Taleban government in 2001. The network has quickly gained popularity, in spite of, or perhaps because it has in the past been criticised for what conservatives see as its racy programming.
It has defended its coverage of parliament. "These are public figures at a public place and we have to show what they do," the station's director, Saad Mohseni, said. "The media has the right to show what they do."
LOL. |