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?"