Interview: 'Government-owned Media Are Not Good For Democracy'

RFA: You said you will merge some ministries, but government employees need not worry.

ASSK: Yes, There are too many government employees in some ministries and too few in others. We have to move them from the ministries that have little work to do to others with a lot of work. We have to reorganize.

RFA: What is your opinion about having government-run media in the country?

ASSK: I think government-owned media are not good for democracy. We will not abolish them immediately, but yet don’t want to delay doing it as well. It would be better if we did everything according to democratic principles as soon as possible. There are government supported media in the United States and United Kingdom, such as the Voice of America and the British Broadcasting Corporation, but they have their freedom. They are working with their own channels. It is important to work freely even though we have government supported media.

RFA: What are your thoughts about issuing pensions to politicians?

ASSK: We, the members of parliament (MPs) from the NLD, all will have political pensions as will others, and everyone has agreed to donate what we receive to places in need. We have our salaries, so we don’t need the pensions. (Courtesy of RFA)