Broadcasting bill criticized
Broadcasting bill criticized
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The latest draft of the broadcasting law, to be deliberated in
the next two weeks, reveals the ignorance of the House of
Representatives and the government in regards public demands for
revision of several contentious articles.
Various groups have urged the lawmakers to drop a clause that
allows civil service investigators to ban a broadcasting station.
This regulation, they said, was a repeat of the New Order
regime's authoritarian practice to control the media.
Both the House and the government also maintained an article
that empowered government to interfere in broadcasting
activities.
The House special committee deliberating the bill and Minister
of Communication and Information Syamsul Mu'arif agreed on
Tuesday that the draft law would be brought forward for
endorsement on Nov. 25 as planned. They said there was not enough
time to discuss and to adopt all items proposed by various
groups.
Leo S. Batubara of the Indonesian Press and Broadcasting
Society (MPPI) expressed his regret, saying that both legislators
and government failed to accommodate the aspirations of the
people.
"They do not listen to public demand. They work only according
to their own concept," Leo told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
The MPPI staged five demonstrations and placed advertisements
in the media to call for public resistance against the
contentious articles in the bill, but legislators and the
minister turned a deaf ear and remained unbending.
"We've done our best, but it seems we've lost the battle," Leo
said.
According to Leo, the ignorance of legislators and the
minister indicated an authoritarian attitude, which he said was
the true character of Indonesian officials.
Meanwhile, Gecko Sassily, a member of the House special
committee deliberating the bill, told the press on Wednesday that
the broadcasting bill will be endorsed on Nov.25. He said his
team would use the time left to accommodate as many public
aspirations as possible in the bill.
Should there be a deadlock, legislators and the minister have
agreed to use the final draft completed on Sept. 26.
"We have done our best. If it does not satisfy the public they
can take action," Gecko added.
The deliberation of the broadcasting bill began two years ago,
and was further prolonged by the cabinet shake-up as a result of
the transfer of power from Abdurrahman Wahid to Megawati
Soekarnoputri in July last year.
Protests, including those from members of the House special
committee, have marked the deliberation. Legislator Astrid S.
Susanto of the Indonesian Nationhood Unity Faction (FKKI) walked
out of the conference room in September to protest what she
deemed the government's lack of commitment to the bill.