Talk show halted in midbroadcast

JAKARTA (JP): A political talk show on private TV station Indosiar abruptly went off the air in midbroadcast last night, with the station later blaming the interruption on "technical" problems.

Jointly hosted by social commentator Wimar Witoelar and economist Sjahrir, Dialog Aktual's topic was the government's plan to regulate freedom of expression.

The show, scheduled from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m., went off the air after 15 minutes. It was replaced by a prerecorded musical program.

No immediate explanation was forthcoming from IndoSiar, but it later announced that "due to a technical error" it was unable to continue the show.

The show's guests included constitutional expert Dimyati Hartono, political scientist of the National Institute of Sciences Indria Samego and economist Chatib Basri.

Wimar said in the program's opening that he had invited Minister of Justice Muladi to take part but he turned down the offer.

The hosts and their guests proceeded to denounce the government's plan before the show was suddenly interrupted.

Contacted by The Jakarta Post late last night, a person identifying himself as a member of the station's programming department also attributed the disruption to "merely a technical matter", but referred further inquiries to the public relations department today. (emb/aan)