House warns govt over broadcasting commission

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.