Indonesian press needs to strive for independence

Indonesian press needs to strive for independence

SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): Political and social analysts here have concluded that as long as the Indonesian press remains subservient to the state it will not be able to propagate the democratic values that are required to meet the challenges of the 21st century.

The panelists, speaking at a discussion meeting here on Tuesday evening, confirmed what the public perceives as a servant-master relationship between the press and the government.

"How could a press in such a shackled state contribute to the cultivation of the autonomous institutions needed to develop democracy," lamented Ashadi Siregar, a mass media analyst.

While newspapers, as a business entity, have to weather market competition in order to survive, they are at the same time at the mercy of the political power of the state bureaucracy, Ashadi said.

Ashadi, however, did not blame the problem on the mass media. He pointed instead to the series of restrictive licensing regulations of the state bureaucracy that leave virtually no room for freedom and autonomy.

Soemitro, the top security chief in Jakarta in the first half of the 1970s, shared Ashadi's views, arguing that the kind of democracy Indonesia is now pursuing will not be effective in facing up the challenges in the 21st century.

"I think the checks and balances between the three branches of the government -- executive, legislative and judiciary -- should be improved," said Soemitro. Soemitro is himself widely suspected to have played part in the banning of several newspapers in Jakarta in early 1974.

The discussion on The role of the press in developing democracy at the Sahid Raya Hotel was organized jointly by The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta-based Bernas daily and the Sebelas Maret University, Surakarta.

The discussion was part of a series of programs held on the eve of National Press Day and the 50th anniversary of the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) to be observed at a ceremony here tomorrow which will also be attended by President Soeharto and several ministers.

The meeting, which was chaired by Sabam Siagian, former Indonesian ambassador to Australia and currently a member of the board of directors of PT Bina Media Tenggara, the publisher of the Post, presented three panelists -- Ashadi Siregar, Ishadi SK, chief of the Research and Development Agency at the information ministry and Suparnadi, the third assistant to the rector of Sebelas Maret University.

The meeting was also attended by PWI Chairman Sofyan Lubis, Secretary General of the Indonesian Newspaper Publishers Association S. Leo Batubara and such noted social and political analysts as Mochtar Buchori, Soemitro and Ignas Kleden.

Questions and comments from most of the around 120 participants, which included students from Surakarta and Yogyakarta, mostly pointed to the dominant power of the state bureaucracy.

They observed that the state bureaucracy is so powerful that it controls almost all aspects of political life, co-opting most institutions that are seen as potential challengers to the government.

Fikri Jufri said he fully felt the naked power of the state bureaucracy when his weekly news magazine Tempo and two other publications were banned in June, 1994.

Ignas Kleden observed that the state bureaucracy wouldn't have so much power if democratic values had been nurtured.

"We therefore need a new, improved democracy, a new vision and a new attitude to gear us up for the 21st century, and all the completely new challenges the new era will pose," Soemitro said.

"But I warn you, the young generation, against trying to blame people," he told the students present.

Soemitro warned that there are no short cuts to reform. Short cuts would only cause disruptions and discontinuity "which would nullify what we have achieved so far."

There was nothing new regarding the problems of the press and democracy discussed at the panel discussions.

Nonetheless, as Sabam cautioned at the outset of the three- hour meeting, such free-wheeling discussions, however futile they may seem to pessimists and cynics, still form another building block for the development of democracy.

Anyway, as a participant noted, such a discussion could not have taken place if there was not a certain freedom of expression in Indonesia. (vin)

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