Soeharto: Use openness responsibly<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): President Soeharto is cautioning the local press
\nto use political openness responsibly so as not to endanger
\nnational stability.<\/p>\n
The mass media should be aware they share the responsibility
\nfor safeguarding national interests, he said while opening a
\nnational workshop for the Ministry of Information at the Bina
\nGraha presidential office Saturday.<\/p>\n
\"They should see to it that they can exercise social control
\nwithout sacrificing the larger national interests,\" Soeharto said
\nin the ceremony attended by Minister of Information Harmoko.<\/p>\n
Soeharto made the remarks less than a fortnight after the
\ngovernment closed down the Tempo, Editor and DeTIK weeklies, a
\nmove which has sparked strong reactions from the press and the
\npublic alike.<\/p>\n
Financially troubled Editor and the popular DeTIK were closed
\ndown for operational reasons. Tempo, Indonesia's most influential
\nnews magazine, was shut down for editorial content.<\/p>\n
However, the assumption among the public seems to be that the
\npublications paid the price for being overtly critical of senior
\ngovernment officials, a tactic viewed as \"setting one official
\nagainst another.\"<\/p>\n
The president said the openness that the government has been
\npursuing is a concrete step toward encouraging the people to
\ncontribute ideas for the development of the nation.<\/p>\n
He reiterated the government's assurance that the political
\nopenness he has been pursuing over the past few years will not be
\nterminated as some have feared following the media clampdown.<\/p>\n
\"We want the kind of openness that supports development, but
\nnot exploitation of freedom and openness for something which
\nundermines the national stability,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The President said Indonesia should be grateful to have
\nmechanisms to control the mass media, such as the press law, the
\npress council and the journalism code of ethics, which have
\nsuccessfully directed the media to participate in the development
\nof the nation.<\/p>\n
The government based the closure of the three publications on
\na Ministry of Information Decree issued in 1984. Minister Harmoko
\ntold a parliamentary hearing last week that the widely condemned
\npress ban was constitutional.<\/p>\n
Critics argue that the decree runs counter to the 1982 press
\nlaw, which makes no mention of the government having the right to
\nban publications.<\/p>\n
Journalists and democracy activists have been seeking to have
\nthe 1984 ministerial decree scrapped, but legislators have mixed
\nreactions to it.<\/p>\n
In his speech, Soeharto also said the Ministry of Information
\nshould intensify its role as the agency which encourages a free
\nand responsible press. He then reminded his listeners that the
\nministry must also work to contain the spread of values which can
\ndamage the local culture.<\/p>\n
Interactions between the press and the government and between
\nthe press and the public need to be improved, the President said.<\/p>\n
The workshop aims to analyze and discuss problems facing the
\ninformation ministry. (pan)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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