Bill on freedom of information 'urgent'

Activists and legislators questioned on Thursday the government's commitment to boosting transparency in the public sector after a minister rejected calls for the immediate deliberation of the bill on information.

"This bill could in fact help the government minimize corruption in public agencies because all information would be publicly accessible and out in the open," said Paulus Widiyanto, a researcher and former legislator who drafted the bill.

Minister of Information and Communications Sofyan Djalil told the House on Monday that the bill was not urgent and would only complicate things for public institutions that were obliged to fulfill requests for information from the public.

Paulus said the reasons were baseless because the bill would allow a two-year period for the institutions to make adjustments. He said he sensed the minister's worry that the information commission -- the creation of which is authorized in the bill -- would strip the ministry of its powers.

Paulus was speaking at a press conference with other activists in a campaign to push the government to deliberate the crucial bill.

After three years without action, the bill was declared a House initiative on July 5. The House sent a letter to the State Secretariat for the President to appoint a minister to deliberate the bill. However, the President is yet to respond. -- JP