Broadcasting bill to be deliberated secretly
Broadcasting bill to be deliberated secretly
JAKARTA (JP): The House of Representatives and the government
agreed yesterday to delay deliberations on two of the five
broadcasting bill articles to be amended in a closed meeting next
week.
The closed session, scheduled for Thursday and Friday, will
focus on an article which would allow state-owned TV station TVRI
to air selected advertisements.
The other article deals with the term of private television
station licenses.
Golkar legislator Krissantono said the closed meeting would
enable the House and the government to discuss the two articles
without having to comply with the formal procedures usually
applied in open deliberation.
"We don't want to waste too much time because we are pressed
for time to come up with broadcasting regulations which will be
able to anticipate the fast growing broadcasting world,"
Krissantono said.
He said there had been new developments in broadcasting
including the Internet and cable TV.
"We don't know how to handle them because we don't have any
legal basis for it," he said.
The House, which passed the bill last December, has less than
three weeks to endorse the amended broadcasting bill in a session
scheduled for Sept. 18.
The government, represented by Minister of Information R.
Hartono in an unprecedented second deliberation, suggested last
week that changes be made to articles on the span of coverage of
private TV stations and on provincial administrations'
broadcasting companies.
He also suggested the abolition of an article which would
allow private companies to set up TV stations in provincial
capitals.
But members of the House's special committee were split
yesterday on the government's proposal.
Indonesian Democratic Party faction spokesman Popo Sonadar
Haroen said the deliberation should also revise the article on TV
subscription fees.
"The article must comply with new tax regulations which say
that any form of levy must be made into law and the monies must
go to the government coffers," Popo said.
The United Development Party faction's Ircham Abdurrochim said
the party agreed with the government's proposal to extend the
term of licenses for private TV stations.
But instead of echoing the government's new term of 10 years,
the Moslem-based party suggested an eight-year term.
Armed Forces faction representatives wanted clarification
about the social service advertisements shown on TVRI because
they were paid for mostly by private companies.
The government insisted on banning TVRI from showing selected
advertisements, including privately sponsored social service
ones, because they would threaten private stations' income.
Although the committee had previously agreed to hold evening
deliberation sessions, nobody was willing to stay late yesterday.
The committee was originally scheduled to resume its
discussion yesterday from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. (10/amd)