House endorses broadcasting bill<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives endorsed the
\ngovernment-sponsored broadcasting bill yesterday, the second time
\nin less than 12 months, after the first one was rejected by
\nPresident Soeharto.<\/p>\n
The chief difference now is that state-run TVRI is not
\npermitted to run commercials, not even selected ones as stated in
\nthe first bill, and private stations are permitted greater reach.<\/p>\n
Private TV stations also won reprieve in the licensing
\nmechanism. They will be given 10-year renewable licenses, and not
\nfive-year licenses as in the first bill. However, radio station
\nlicenses will still be limited to five years.<\/p>\n
All 290 legislators present at the plenary session said "yes"
\nto Deputy House Speaker Sutedjo's offer for unanimous approval.<\/p>\n
The bill was the last to be completed by the House which will
\nbe dissolved at the end of this month to make way for new
\nlegislators elected in the May general election.<\/p>\n
Some legislators raised their hands demanding that they be
\nallowed to make additional comments. But Sutedjo ruled out the
\npossibility saying that the final remarks had already been
\nprovided by each faction through their respective spokespeople.<\/p>\n
The bill will now go to President Soeharto for his signature
\nbefore it becomes law.<\/p>\n
Yesterday's endorsement brought an end to the long saga over
\nthe broadcasting bill, which was first submitted by the
\ngovernment in March last year.<\/p>\n
The document went through one of the toughest deliberations
\never given to a bill in the history of the New Order, reflecting
\nthe growing power of the commercial TV lobby in relation to TVRI,
\nwhich currently holds a monopoly over all broadcasting.<\/p>\n
There had been attempts to allow TVRI, which has a national
\nreach, to tap advertising income, but the move was thwarted and
\nthe state network will continue to rely on license fees,
\ngovernment subsidies and royalties from commercial stations.<\/p>\n
The five private TV networks -- RCTI, SCTV, TPI, ANteve and
\nIndosiar -- are owned by politically connected people. They will
\ncontinue to pay royalties to TVRI under the new law, but they
\nwill have greater freedom, such as producing and airing their own
\nnews, besides having to relay TVRI news.<\/p>\n
When the bill was endorsed the first time in December, there
\nwere 20 additional articles to the original 58.<\/p>\n
Delays in the signing of the bill by President Soeharto
\nbrought various speculation, and some analysts linked it to the
\nreplacement of long-time minister of information Harmoko by R.
\nHartono in June.<\/p>\n
One of Hartono's first jobs was to announce the government's
\nintention to submit the bill again for redeliberation, explaining
\nthat some of the articles could not be implemented.<\/p>\n
The bill was formally submitted again in July and the
\ndeliberation, which began last month, had focused on four or five
\narticles.<\/p>\n
The House, already pressed with various bills to complete
\nbefore the end of its term this month, set up a special committee
\nto work with the government to discuss the bill again. The
\ncommittee consisted of Hartono, nine legislators from the
\ndominant Golkar faction, four from the United Development Party,
\nthree from the Indonesian Democratic Party and four from the
\nArmed Forces faction.<\/p>\n
After the plenary session, Hartono told reporters he could now
\nrelax after a month of endless meetings.<\/p>\n
"Together, we've succeeded in improving the bill. We hope that
\nthe President will endorse it soon," he said.<\/p>\n
He said once the law was enacted, the ministry would
\nimmediately issue decrees to implement the legislation.<\/p>\n
"The government really appreciates the House for its kindness
\nto redeliberate the bill, so both parties can provide unanimous
\nalternatives for government policies," he said.<\/p>\n
Hartono described the redeliberation process as active and
\ndynamic, colored with live debate.<\/p>\n
"The revised broadcasting bill was a result of a unanimous
\nagreement between the House and the government," he said.<\/p>\n
The broadcasting bill was significant for the development of
\ncommunication and information technology, as well as global
\nbroadcasting, he said.<\/p>\n
Articles in the bill should accommodate present and future
\nconditions in the broadcasting industry, Hartono said.
\n(imn\/emb\/amd)<\/p>\n
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