The bill was drawn up by the Ministry of Information without input from media groups. Now a meeting will be held on March 23 for politicians to discuss the draft bill with journalists.

Kyaw Min Swe said that the Interim Press Council will finalize the media bill no later than March 24. The media bill will include both the rights and responsibilities of media persons, according to Kyaw Min Swe.

“I think the minister finally understands that the media industry is totally against the draft,” said Zaw Thet Htwe, the editor of a health journal and a former political prisoner speaking to AP. “We cannot predict the outcome of our meeting on Saturday but we are happy that the minister listens to the views.”

“The laws are not just to protect journalists. They include both rights and responsibilities. Media persons need to understand it. If they violate the laws, they may probably be punished,” said Kyaw Min Swe.  

Aung Paw Htun, an editor of Messenger Journal, told Mizzima that he thought that he thought it would be better if if daily newspapers were launched only after the media bill has been adopted.    

“I think the publishers who will launch newspapers will have to wait and see in order to know that how much the media bill can support the right to publish newspapers and how much it can protect the journalists,” said Aung Paw Htun.

London-based rights group Article 19 previously said that the draft of the Myanmar’s new media bill falls short of international standards.

The organization said at the end of February in a statement that the new press bill to be presented in Parliament “retains a vagueness that will leave the print media open to abuse from the government and other powerful actors.”

It said that the draft Press Law Bill (2013) says that the draft bill, if passed, would undermine the role of journalists and overly restrict their work.

The draft media law was announced a few days before newspaper publishers were informed whether or not they had been granted a daily publishing permit.