Jakarta – Opposition lawmakers and the independent Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) doubted Wednesday whether the new supervisory board members of state broadcaster TVRI would be able to stay neutral doing their jobs.

House of Representatives legislators selected Musa Asy'airie, Retno Intani, Hazairin Sitepu, Abraham Isnan, and Brig. Gen. (ret) Robik Mukav as supervisor board members for TVRI after a two-day fit-and-proper test for 14 candidates fielded by the Communications and Information Ministry.

Sitepu and Mukav were both members of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's campaign team in the 2004 presidential elections. Two others, Retno and Abraham, were from TVRI, while Musa was a government representative.

The board would be authorized to determine TVRI's general policies and to monitor the implementation of TVRI's work plan and budgetary spending. The board would also have the authority to select, appoint and fire the members of TVRI's board of directors.

The newly appointed board members face tough challenges; to fight rampant corruption and restructure the disorganized management of the public broadcasting agency. They are also supposed to ensure the station does not become a government mouthpiece, as it has been in the past.

In a report in October last year, Indonesian Corruption Watch reported the management of the 43-year-old television network to the Corruption Eradication Commission. The group's report detailed an alleged Rp 15 billion markup in procurement projects, TVRI's inconsistencies in reporting its advertising revenue and other "unusual" balance sheet items.

Some legislators said they were not impressed by the 14 candidates proposed by the government. "Very few are actually qualified for the job," National Awakening Party legislator Muhammad A.S. Hikam told The Jakarta Post. Hikam said corruption was responsible for TVRI's poor performance and had become a "moral hazard" within the broadcaster, spreading throughout its staff.

KPI head Sinansari Ecip said that with the appointment of the five board members, TVRI would again become a mouthpiece of the government. "The board does not represent the public, but it represents the government," he said. The government should have coordinated with the KPI in the selection of candidates, he said.