Delay passage of broadcasting bill

Ardimas Sasdi, Staff Writer, Jakarta, ardimas@thejakartapost.com

So powerful were the owners and executives of the private TV stations that they were able to delay the approval of Broadcasting Bill No. 27. The very same law was not even enforceable a year after its approval by then President Soeharto.

In the reform era the same TV stations, plus Metro TV, continually exposed the weaknesses of the government of president B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri without mercy, as if everything had run smoothly under the New Order administration.

Irritation expressed by Megawati and her aides with the press must be understood within this context, although it is naive to ignore the reality that the government as power holder also had an intention to use this law to control the press as the New Order government had done in the past. Megawati has criticized the press at least twice this year: The first occasion was around Press Day in February and the second shortly after the Nunukan tragedy in October.

The President accused the press of going overboard by blowing everything out of proportion, creating an image that Indonesia was burning.

But in the latest protest against media coverage, Megawati may have been ill-informed by her aides that her criticisms sparked a strong reaction from journalists, academics and politicians. The reaction was properly aired by veteran journalist Rosihan Anwar, who said that it was improper for the President to criticize the press. Rosihan said the President should instead thank the press, which had helped raise the plight of hundreds of thousands of migrant workers stranded in squalid camps in Nunukan, East Kalimantan, to the surface through its coverage so that the government became aware of the gravity of the situation, and took proper measures to deal with it. The workers had been deported and harassed by Malaysian authorities under a new, tough immigration policy on foreign workers.

Judging from the strong opposition of the media and public to the new Broadcasting Bill and the wider political realities, Megawati has two choices: First, forget her concern about the effect of a free press and initiate efforts through members of her Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle to stop deliberations on the bill. Efforts to continue deliberations on the bill could be viewed by the already hostile press as government endeavors to restrict its freedom.

The aim to "control" the press is also not popular and could become political suicide for a politician in power. Former Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, for instance, was forced to bow to pressure to drop a draconian law on the press in 1988 after massive protests from the press, including the press sympathetic to her and her Congress Party. The case was believed to be one of the factors that in the end cost Gandhi her premiership. The same could also happen to Megawati.

Second, it is better for the government to reflect rather than continue deliberations on the bill, even though there are some positive aspects to it, such as clauses that regulate cross- ownership in the media, media conglomeration, diversity of information and the establishment of a public media freed from commercial interests.

The aim to control the press would kill nascent press freedom and impede the process of democratization, of which the key is an informed citizenry.

Moreover, efforts to muzzle the press are against the spirit of reform in the media industry promoted by the government of B.J. Habibie through liberalization and deregulation of the media industry in 1998. Thus it would also be viewed by already restless investors on future investment in Indonesia as an anti- business policy.

Third, there were strong indications of politicization of the Broadcasting Bill by Megawati's political opponents to pit the government against the press. Indications of that have been strong. Deliberations on the bill were marked by protests and walkouts by legislators who were initially considered pro-bill, such as Effendy Choirie of the National Awakening Party (PKB) and Djoko Susilo of the National Mandate Party (PAN). In September 2002 Astrid Susanto, a professor of communications and one of the staunchest proponents of the bill, walked out of a meeting with Minister Syamsul Muarif in protest at the government's lack of commitment to the bill.

The Muarif factor, a leading architect behind Golkar's successful campaign in improving the image of Golkar among legislators in the House, is more of a liability for Megawati as part the risk of having a rainbow Cabinet than as an asset in connection with the bill. The minister's aspect is not trivial. Golkar was apparently not happy with the current Cabinet as they saw Megawati had not been being doing anything to prevent the Attorney General's Office from processing the case of Golkar chairman Akbar Tandjung, who was sentenced by the district court to three years' imprisonment for graft in the Rp 41 billion Bulog scandal.

Fourth, support from intellectuals and academics as opinion- makers to back the new bill, is difficult to obtain as they rely heavily on the media for their mouthpiece. The only way the government can gain some popular control over the communications field, as put by Robert McChesney (2001), is to mobilize a popular movement. But even this is not easy for Megawati to achieve at the moment, with the popularity of the existing Cabinet so low.

Even at the PDI Perjuangan level support is hard to obtain, with party leaders involved in internal bickering over party policy. Some also observed that the government had failed to raise their standard of living, causing disillusion among those who considered that life was better under the dictatorial regime of Soeharto.

Last, there are many urgent things that need government attention, such as sound and concrete programs to bring the country out of economic crisis befalling Indonesia since 1997, and the political and security uncertainty in the country. The fight against terrorism is new, but a much more pressing need that the government has to deal with quickly and correctly. The effect of the Oct. 12 Bali blast has crippled the tourism sector, not only in Bali, but also within Indonesia generally.

The writer received his masters degree in communication science from the University of Indonesia, Jakarta.