Agencies within new ministry could serve as propaganda agencies vehicle
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Two bodies established under the Ministry of Communications and Information could become state propaganda bodies with unchecked powers if they are not properly regulated, media observers say.
"We are suspicious of the establishment of the two bodies that might work to merely defend the government interests," Bimo Nugroho of the Indonesia Broadcasting Commission (KPI) told a discussion organized by the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI) here on Wednesday.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono on Jan. 31 issued regulations to upgrade the status of the office of the state minister on information into a full-portfolio ministry. These regulations also create the Directorate General of Communication Facilities and Information Dissemination, and the Public Information Agency, both which fall under the ministry.
House of Representatives legislator Djoko Susilo, another speaker at the seminar, said the jobs of the two bodies could overlap the KPI's authorities.
"We have to be critical of (information) Minister Sofyan Djalil so that he won't start acting like Joseph Goebels, the Nazi German propaganda minister, who only campaigned for the government. He also should be censured if he takes over the KPI's authorities," Djoko said.
According to Law No. 32/2002 on broadcasting, the rights to regulate broadcasters are the KPI's domain.
However, government regulations to implement the law grant the ministry the power to allocate frequencies to radio and television broadcasters and issue licenses for electronic media.
At a House hearing recently, Sofyan assured members the power handed to his ministry would not lead it to emulating the information ministry under the New Order.
Bimo stressed that in order for the ministry to reach its technology goals the government should replace its personnel with electronic media specialists.
"I doubt the capacity and the credibility of the bureaucrats inside the ministry. If they want to be effective in reaching their goals in developing ICT (internet communications technology), the government should consider employing more credible people," Bimo said.
One audience member questioned Sofyan's qualifications for leading the ministry.
Sofyan holds a doctorate degree in international financial and capital market law and policy. Before his appointment to the Cabinet, he was an independent commissioner of PT Kalbe Farma, one of the country's pharmacy giants. (006)