House warns govt over broadcasting commission
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
House of Representatives legislators demanded on Friday that the government speed up the selection of candidates of the Broadcasting Commission (KPI), saying the country had only two months left to establish the new body.
The Law No. 31/2002 on broadcasting gives both the government and the House until Dec. 28 to form the KPI, whose authorities include formulating a code of conduct among broadcasting corporations, controlling its implementation and handing down punishment to offenders.
"The government should submit names of the candidates as soon as possible to the House for evaluation. There are only two months left for the establishment of the commission," Djoko Susilo, chairman of the House's subcommission for media affairs said here on Friday.
The House is now in recess, but will resume its sitting period on Monday.
Djoko asked the government to take the selection process of Constitutional Court members a few months ago, which forced the House to spend extra time during its recess to evaluate the candidates in a bid to beat the deadline.
The broadcasting law came into effect last year after years of effort to revise a government-sponsored broadcasting bill which was passed by the House but was rejected by then President Soeharto in 1997.
Unlike the 1997 bill, the broadcasting law limits the role played by the government.
The law stipulates that for the first time, the independent KPI will be jointly formed by the government and the House. The commission is to comprise nine members.
Separately, media analyst Leo S. Batubara was not the least bit pleased with the tardiness in establishing the much-needed KPI.
Leo emphasized that since the dissolution of the Information Ministry in 1999, there had been "lawlessness" in the television broadcasting sector.
Since the dissolution of the ministry, there was no institution that regulated programs on radio or television.
"The establishment of KPI is important because it will regulate the broadcasting programs and ensure fairness in the political campaign via broadcasting stations," Leo said.
The election law stipulates that the media must give equal time and/or space to political parties intending to advertise their programs in both the print and electronic media.
"It is the KPI that will draft regulations to ensure fairness in the use of the media as an instrument for political campaigning," Leo added.
The broadcasting law was endorsed following controversy in the public.
The controversy prompted President Megawati Soekarnoputri not to sign the law. However, under the amended Constitution a law automatically takes effect within 30 days after House's approval.
Both Djoko and Leo said the State Secretariat was screening 27 candidates selected by the government.
The evaluations will be conducted by the House's Commission I for information, defense, and foreign affairs.