JP/2/2Media
Parties barred from financing non-campaign TV programs
Moch. N. Kurniawan The Jakarta Post Jakarta
The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) and the General Elections Commission (KPU) agreed on Wednesday to prohibit political parties and regional representative candidates from financing informational, educational or entertainment programs in the electronic media.
Both commissions agreed that, in line with the elections law, candidates should be given equal opportunities to campaign, and therefore should not be allowed to use noncampaign programs as a forum for campaigning.
Yet, the electronic media cannot be barred from running news programs on political parties or regional representative candidates.
According to the agreement signed by the commissions here on Thursday, both radio and TV stations will be allowed to air election education programs. Stations will be required to air information on polling methods and the polling period.
Also allowed to be included in the educational programs are interactive dialogs, speeches and debates
TV stations will be allowed to air parties' electoral campaigns in paid advertisements, with parties allowed a maximum of 10 30-second spots a day. Radio stations will be allowed to air a maximum of 10 spots a day per party, with each spot allowed to run for a maximum of 60 seconds.
Besides the advertisements, TV and radio stations are required to allot free-of-charge campaign spots once during the campaign period, which is from March 11 to April 1.
The agreement carries only administrative sanctions for any violations of the rulings.
KPI chairman Victor Menayang said his organization could impose harsher sanctions such as broadcast bans for any radio or TV stations violating the agreement.
"This agreement aims at encouraging electronic media to keep a distance from those contesting the election and protect the independence of the electronic media," he said.
Political analyst Rizal Mallarangeng has predicted the electronic media could receive up to 40 percent of the campaign funds of political parties and regional representative candidates.