Harmoko warns press of latent communist danger

Harmoko warns press of latent communist danger

JAKARTA (JP): Minister of Information Harmoko warned the
Indonesian press yesterday to remain leery of the latent danger
of communism.

"The communists will continue trying to exert influence at
every opportunity, including through the mass media," Harmoko
insisted during a ceremony to hand out the annual "Upholders of
Pancasila Press" awards.

The minister said the communists' favorite weapons include
agitation, propaganda, creating intrigue, insinuation, slander
and setting one side against another to exploit class struggles.

His remarks echoed warnings other officials have voiced in
recent weeks. Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono, during a
seminar last week, also said he had detected whiffs of communism
in some recently published articles.

Harmoko was speaking before awarding nine journalists for
their meritorious service in upholding the concept of the
"Pancasila press".

Among this year's defenders of Pancasila award winners is
former ambassador to Syria Chalid Mawardi, who was chief editor
of the Duta Masyarakat daily newspaper. Chalid, who is also a
member of the Supreme Advisory Council, is now on the editorial
board of the Indonesia Times.

Other recipients include K. Nadha, a former journalist at
Suara Indonesia and now the editor in chief of the Bali Post
daily in Denpasar; H. Agil H. Ali, a former journalist at Kami
and currently the chief editor of the Memorandum daily in
Semarang; Soewarno, the assistant chief editor of the Suara
Merdeka daily in Semarang; Benny Ishaq Yahya, a former journalist
at the Selecta magazine in Jakarta.

Awards were also presented to D.S. Moeljanto, a former
journalist at Merdeka who now works for Warnasari in Jakarta;
Sjam Alamsjah, once a journalist at the Semesta daily and
currently chief editor of the Sinar weekly in Jakarta; H. Nasrul
Siddik, a former journalist at Res Publika and currently chief
editor of the Canang weekly in Padang; and A. Moein M.G.,
formerly with the Mercusuar who is now the editor of the Makassar
Press weekly in Ujung Pandang.

The award presentation was timed to coincide with Pancasila
Sanctity Day on Oct. 1. The date was set aside to mark the
survival of the state ideology after a coup attempt blamed on the
Indonesian Communist Party on the night of Sept. 30, 1965.

The awards were given to journalists whose work has been
recognized as strengthening Pancasila since the coup was thwarted
by the military.

In related a development, Minister/State Secretary Moerdiono
criticized Surabaya Mayor Sunarto Sumoprawiro yesterday for
threatening to expel local reporters who allegedly besmirched
Governor Basofi Sudirman's reputation.

Mayor Sunarto said on Friday he would "throw out" of the city
any reporters who smeared the governor.

"Don't you dare write bad stuff, or I'll make you my enemies.
I'll seek you out, I'll demolish your homes and turn them into
parks," he was quoted by a number of newspapers as saying. He
failed to specify what he meant by "bad reports".

"Don't you play games with me. I'm the one with power,
whatever happens, I'd still win. I don't care if I have to lose
my job, I'm only defending the governor," he continued.

"That's not a proper thing for an official to say," Moerdiono
concluded. (swe)