Broadcasting regulations put on hold

Tony Hotland, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

In a decision eliciting jeers and cheers from the gallery, the government and the House of Representatives agreed on Monday to postpone the implementation of the much-criticized government regulations on broadcasting.

They settled on a timetable -- over the next two months -- to amend some articles in Law No. 32/2002 on Broadcasting, the ambiguity of which have been blamed for the controversy.

The postponement came after staunch criticism over four regulations, issued on Nov. 16, which media analysts and lawmakers have criticized as a return to the suppression of press freedom and a violation of the broadcasting law.

Press activists and members of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI), who observed intently during the hearing between information minister Sofyan Djalil and House Commission I on information and defense, immediately welcomed the decision.

House members had taken turns lambasting the minister and the President for issuing the regulations, with some calling for a flat revocation of all the regulations.

The regulations are No. 49/2005 on foreign broadcasters, No. 50/2005 on private broadcasters, No. 51/2005 on community broadcasters and No. 52/2005 on foreign broadcasters.

Seemingly cornered, minister Sofyan said the regulations were drafted by his predecessor Syamsul Ma'arif and he only complied with a Constitutional Court verdict over a contentious article in the broadcasting law.

Article 33 of the broadcasting law says that licensing-related issues are determined by the "state" through the KPI.

The word "state" had been self-claimed by both the information ministry and the KPI, delaying the issuance of government regulations to implement the law for almost a year.

The Constitutional Court, claimed Sofyan, had ruled in favor of the government by stating that it does have the power to regulate broadcasting issues.

House members, some of whom were directly involved in the deliberation and the enactment of the historic law, disputed the verdict.

They said it was the government that would set the rules, but that did not mean that it could take over the power that the broadcasting law had constitutionally embedded in the KPI.

All in all, the lawmakers admitted the broadcasting law was prone to multiple interpretations due to the fact that, coupled with political compromises, it was deliberated in haste.

Revising the law, House members agreed on Monday, should be conducted with democracy in mind, where information affairs should be left to the public -- in this case by a quasi-state institution such as the KPI.

The revision process is expected to include the government, the House, the KPI, press experts as well as several former lawmakers who deliberated on the bill.

In the hearing's conclusion, the House told the government to completely lift the current night time ban, which applies to all local broadcasters. That contentious ministerial decision was made several months ago, ostensibly to comply with the so-called campaign to conserve energy.

The House also called on the government to submit by the end of next month, at the latest, a list of questions for the free access to public information bill to start the deliberation process.