More legislators skip KPI screening
More legislators skip KPI screening
Kurniawan Hari, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
More members of the House of Representatives (DPR)'s Commission I
for communications and information skipped Friday's hearing to
select members of the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI),
raising concerns over the quality of the selection process.
Of the 55 members of the commission, only 14 showed up in the
morning, that number decreased to 12 in the afternoon.
On the first day of the hearing on Thursday, only 19
commission members were in attendance.
"Of course, the absence of many legislators from the selection
process will reduce the quality of the process. I will ask them
to appear at the next hearing," commission deputy chairman
Effendy Choirie said after the hearing.
The selection process will continue until Dec. 11. On Dec. 12
the nine eligible candidates, of the 27 candidates President
Megawati Soekarnoputri submitted earlier, will be announced.
The names of the nine candidates will then be handed to the
President for inauguration.
Effendy of the National Awakening Party (PKB) said that the
selection of KPI members was an important issue, therefore the
legislators should make attendance a priority.
Commission member Paulus Widiyanto of the Indonesian
Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) claimed that many
members were in Surabaya, East Java, attending a military
celebration.
Six candidates presented their vision and mission on Friday to
the legislators.
They were Amelia Hezkasari (a housewife), Henri Subiakto (a
lecturer at Airlangga University in Surabaya), S. Sinansari Ecip
(a lecturer at Hasanuddin University), Ade Armando (a lecturer at
the University of Indonesia), Anton A. Nangoy (an activist with a
television association), and Wolly Baktiono (an employee of a
radio station in Surabaya).
Five candidates were grilled on Thursday.
After examining 11 candidates, both Effendy and Paulus said,
that according to their evaluation, there were four eligible
candidates.
Meanwhile, media analyst Hinca Panjaitan, who monitored the
selection process, said that at least two candidates were
eligible to be members of KPI.
He added that his group would monitor the whole selection
process and rate the quality of both the candidates and the
selection process.
The establishment of KPI is stipulated by the law No.31/2002
on broadcasting. Several candidates are figures who strongly
oppose the broadcasting law.
Legislators questioned the integrity of those candidates and
said that they would give those candidates last priority.