Myanmar Press Council (MPC) met with the Chief Editor and Chief Reporter of Weekly Eleven Journal regarding the complaint filed by the Yangon Region government at the MPC office in Botahtaung Township on December 3.

Aung Kyaw Khaing, director of the regional government lodged a complaint to MPC calling for action against Chief Editor Kyaw Zaw Lin, Deputy Chief Editor Nayi Min (aka) Dr Min Lwin and  Chief Reporter Phyo Wai (aka) Phyo Wai Win from the Weekly Eleven Journal under Section 9 Subsection (a), (e), (g) and (i) of the Media Law.

"Today, we called a meeting with the persons concerned from Eleven Media. They expressed their stance regarding the news article they wrote. The matter was already discussed in parliament. When the discussion was mentioned for the first time, there was no action taken. But action came when it was written for the next time. They told us a lot. There is also discussion made by the other side. Our duty is to coordinate and mediate between the two sides. In trying to mediate the dispute, both sides may have their own views," MPC chairman Hanthawady Ohn Kyaing told the media.

He added that the council would meet with the regional government again and tell them what Eleven Media has discussed. He said he would try to mediate the dispute.

Chief Editor Kyaw Zaw Lin from Weekly Eleven Journal said: "When we were first invited for the (MPC) meeting, I was in Singapore to cover ASEAN Summit news. As the council set another date, we came here today. Phyo Wai, who wrote the article, and I came to meet MPC officials. They told us what the regional government has demanded. They ask us what our stance is. I edited the article. We wrote it based on what a parliamentarian said so at the parliament. We said we wrote the article based the report of the Auditor General in parliament. We did not mention any wrong facts and data. We wrote such an opinion article so that public funds cannot be wasted. In our article, we didn't write anything that can harm the image of the regional government or individuals."

This is the second meeting between Eleven Media and MPC. The first meeting took place on November 13.

MPC also met with director Aung Kyaw Khaing from the Yangon Region government on November 15.