Plan to revive information ministry opposed
Plan to revive information ministry opposed
JAKARTA (JP): Dozens of journalists staged a rally in front
Merdeka Selatan Palace on Friday urging President Megawati
Soekarnoputri to abandon reported plans to revive the Ministry of
Information which was dissolved by her predecessor in 1999.
Grouped under the Indonesian Press Community (KPI), the
protesters unfurled posters and banners charging that the
purported plan would only result in government control of the
press and freedom of expression.
"This eagerness to reinstate the ministry is an effort to
control freedom of the press, as had been done by the then
ministry of information during the New Order era," said Santoso,
a senior member of the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI).
The journalists went to the palace to convey their concern to
Megawati who still uses the vice presidential office despite her
appointment as the country's new president. However, they could
not meet with her as she was on a two-day visit to Bandung and
South Sulawesi.
The plan to reestablish the information ministry was
reportedly revealed by chairman of the Indonesian Democratic
Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction at the House of
Representatives (DPR) Arifin Panigoro.
Arifin said the ministry should be reestablished to meet the
challenge of information technology, as well as to convey
government policy.
The plan was reportedly accepted by five major political
parties, including the former ruling Golkar Party.
Several names had been mentioned as likely candidates for the
information minister post, including Golkar politician Marwah
Daud Ibrahim.
"We strongly reject any attempt to revive the Ministry of
Information and any effort to regulate information," the
journalists remarked.
Soon after his election in October 1999, then president
Abdurrahman Wahid abolished the Ministry of Information and
Ministry of Social Services.
The decision won domestic and international praise as the
Ministry of Information was seen as an instrument by the Soeharto
government to censor political criticism against his rule.
The ministry was responsible for banning newspapers and
magazines, including Tempo weekly in 1994.
It also obliged journalists to join the Indonesian Journalists
Association (PWI) as the sole organization for press people.
Besides AJI, The Indonesian Journalist Associations of Reform
(PWI Reformasi), Institute for the Studies on Free Flow of
Information (ISAI) and the Press and Broadcasting Society (MPPI)
also joined Friday's rally.
The journalists arrived mostly from radio stations and the
print media.
In Yogyakarta, the local branch of AJI also expressed its
objection to the plan.
In a written statement signed by its chairman Raihul Fadjri,
the organization said Arifin's statement was a result of blunt
ignorance towards people's right to information.
"The government's policies do not need to be publicized by a
ministry of information. During Gus Dur's government, they could
flow into the public domain without the existence of a ministry
of information," the statement said. (jun/swa)