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)