Information ministry placed under Susilo

Information ministry placed under Susilo

JAKARTA (JP): The State Ministry of Communications and
Information, which many fear could end up censoring the media,
has been placed under the Coordinating Minister for Political and
Security Affairs, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.

In the past, state ministries came under the supervision of
the state secretariat because their main tasks were to give
policy advice to the President and other ministries.

In the new Cabinet's first meeting on Monday, President
Megawati Soekarnoputri outlined only the bones of the office's
responsibilities, which the state minister, Syamsul Muarif, now
has to flesh out.

"What I am supposed to do now is to translate the President's
guidelines into concrete action programs," Syamsul explained.

Syamsul said the placing of his office under the Coordinating
Ministry for Political and Security Affairs was in line with the
1999 State Policy Guidelines (GBHN).

President Megawati's move to set up the State Ministry of
Communications and Information has elicited a hostile response
from the public. It is feared that the office could be used to
control the media -- in the same way as the New Order government
under Soeharto used the now defunct Information Ministry.

The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), for instance,
sees the information office as "unnecessary" because it could
easily be used to suppress freedom of expression in a broad
sense.

Although he is yet to be given a specific job description,
Syamsul has given assurances that he would not meddle in the
freedom of the press.

Syamsul said he would seek input from the National Information
Agency (LIN), the organization which the then president
Abdurahman Wahid formed after he closed down the unpopular
Ministry of Information.

"Besides, I have also talked to Pak Agum Gumelar
(transportation minister) on coordination with the Director
General for Posts and Telecommunications," he said. (dja)