Organizers complaining of difficulties getting permits

Organizers complaining of difficulties getting permits

By Meidyatama Suryodiningrat

JAKARTA (JP): For organizers, preparing for a seminar or a
cultural performance may be easier than going through the
bureaucratic haze and ambiguous restrictions necessary to
obtaining a permit.

"There is no clear written rule or guideline on how to obtain
a permit," Arimbi, director of the law program of the Indonesian
Environmental Forum (Walhi), a leading non-governmental
organization, said.

She told The Jakarta Post of her experience with the ambiguity
of the process, which she says lacks a clear operating procedure,
and exhibits the bureaucratic tendency to "pass the buck" in
making a decision on "politically sensitive" subjects.

Though probably less bureaucratic, cultural performances are
also subject to scrutiny with special permission being required
if certain groups or individuals are performing.

The executive director of Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) cultural
center, Pramana PMD, revealed that just recently a new
requirement was added to the existing list, demanding additional
permits for literary discussions.

Coordinating Minister for Political Affairs and Security
Soesilo Soedarman said last week his office was forming a team to
review the policy requiring people to obtain government
permission to hold gatherings.

Gathering permits are issued by the police after the organizer
of the activity has received recommendations from the various
authorities responsible for that particular activities' field.

TIM has to get at least four recommendations for its annual
permit, while Walhi has to get at least two before they can apply
to the police for their permit.

Walhi has run up against difficulties with the policy, with
discussions on nuclear energy either disrupted by police or not
given a permit at all.

Walhi has publicly expressed opposition to the government's
plan to develop nuclear energy.

Arimbi explained that to obtain a permit, Walhi has to first
get recommendations from the Ministry of Environment and the
Directorate General for Social and Political Affairs at the
Ministry of Home Affairs.

She said that her organization's request for permits for
previous seminars and discussions on other topics were not
rejected. However, when it came to the nuclear issue, they
encountered many obstacles.

What is interesting about Arimbi's experience is that the
Ministry of Environment has always given a recommendation, and
that it was always officials at the home ministry and the police
office who seemed to raise a fuss.

Arimbi revealed how, in the latest incident last month, an
official at the Ministry of Home Affairs rejected Walhi's
application claiming that the organization had not been
registered.

When Arimbi said Walhi was already registered, the official
said there was a new law requiring them to register again. The
official could not show them where this new law was written, nor
show them the written requirements for applying for a permit.

Confusing

Arimbi further lamented on how confusing it was to try to get
a permit, as there were no guidelines other than the verbal
instructions given at the police station.

"Just finding the right section to go to at the station is a
struggle in itself," she remarked.

Inconsistencies on the part of the authorities also caused the
stoppage of a recent anti-nuclear seminar just as it was about to
begin at the Bulungan Youth Arena, South Jakarta.

As is usual with procedures there, it was the Bulungan Arena
managers who took care of permits. The discussion was broken up,
however, apparently because the Bulungan Arena managers had
neglected to get the proper permission from the National Police
Headquarters.

According to Arimbi, the Bulungan people said they had got
permission by reporting to the local police sub-precinct; a
practice which had been long used and was accepted for activities
at the Youth Arena.

Pramana complained of how when TIM received its annual
activities permit, issued in April, it contained an additional
clause demanding that "Activities in the nature of literary
lectures/ discussions must have a separate permit."

He said that this was a new clause which had never been
included before.

"I was surprised. What does this have to do with anything?"
Pramana told the Post, expressing helplessness about doing
anything about it.

He speculated that the clause on literature discussions was
added because "because there are poems which ridicule or are
satirical".

He explained that there are long-standing clauses for special
permits involving performances by critical poet W.S. Rendra, the
Swara Mahardika troupe which was founded by Guruh Soekarnoputra,
the son of former president Sukarno, and the theater Koma group
led by political satirist N. Riantiarno.

The demand for separate permits for literature discussions,
however, was totally new and inexplicable, he said.

He said TIM was now getting a separate permit for Rendra's
performance of "Love Poems" next month. Asked whether he thinks
the permit would be given, Pramana said "How could they ban love
poems?"