Broadcasting bill review plan draws mixed responses

Broadcasting bill review plan draws mixed responses

JAKARTA (JP): The government's insistence on having the
broadcasting bill deliberated again in the House of
Representatives drew mixed responses yesterday.

Former minister of information Harmoko said he welcomed the
unprecedented plan because he saw nothing wrong with it.

"It (the second deliberation) is normal in this country's law
making process," said Harmoko, who represented the government
during the bill's deliberation last year.

Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono said Wednesday that
President Soeharto had refused to enact the bill because some of
its content was considered unfeasible. The bill was passed by the
House last December after seven months of deliberation.

Moerdiono said that Soeharto would write to House Speaker
Wahono soon to ask for a review of problematic clauses, which do
not allow national TV stations to broadcast to more than half the
country's population and require TV stations to renew their
licenses every five years.

Minister of Information Hartono said yesterday that beside the
clause on broadcasting coverage and license renewal, the
government wanted foreign programs be dubbed in English instead
of Bahasa Indonesia.

Harmoko, Golkar's chairman, led the party to its sixth
successive win in the May 29 general election.

Harmoko said yesterday that he had ordered Golkar legislators
to discuss the bill's amendment.

Golkar legislator Oka Mahendra said the House should learn
from the planned second deliberation to improve its quality.

"House members should have the courage to confess their
carelessness. In future they must have more wisdom before passing
a bill so that such discrepancies do not happen again," Oka said.

He said the House had no reference on how to deliberate the
bill for a second time because a bill had never been returned to
the House during the New Order.

He said a short-cut procedure usually applied for deliberation
of the state budget. This includes a government explanation and
the House's response. This simplified procedure means a bill can
be passed in less than a month.

Oka said the House could refuse to deliberate the bill again
in the same way that it could theoretically turn down a
government-sponsored bill.

Indonesian Democratic Party legislator B.N. Marbun questioned
the planned second deliberation, saying that House legislators
had labored to reach agreement with the government during the
seven months of deliberation.

Twenty articles were added to the 58 articles in the bill
submitted by Harmoko before the House passed it.

"We have no tradition of second deliberation. Why doesn't the
government enact the broadcasting bill first and issue some
regulations to make amends for the law's shortcomings?" Marbun
said.

National Institute of Science researcher Rusdi Muchtar called
on the government to explain to the public why it sought to amend
the broadcasting bill.

"Transparency will keep the public from making rumors which
may lead to unrest," Rusdi was quoted by Antara as saying
yesterday.

He said Soeharto's refusal showed the government's cautious
stance, learning that a law always had consequences for the
community. (amd)