Hasyim Widhiarto, Jakarta – Amid the alarming trend of media moguls wading into politics, the nation's lawmakers are planning to devise regulations to prevent media abuse during elections.
The special committee for the general elections bill agreed on Thursday to focus on deliberating rules on political campaigning and advertising in electronic media, especially involving TV and radio stations linked to political parties.
Committee deputy chairman Gede Pasek Suardika said the committee was planning to impose tight campaign regulations on TV and radio stations, as they were operating on public frequencies.
"We don't want to see certain political parties occupy these frequencies to force the public to watch their mass of political advertisements," said Gede, a legislator of the ruling Democratic Party.
The committee will only discuss minor regulations for political campaigns and advertisements through print and online media as the operation of such media relies on private production resources, like paper and Internet services. Other lawmakers in the committee strongly supported the plan.
Lawmaker Ganjar Pranowo of the Indonesia Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said he had been disturbed by Metro TV's move to intensely broadcast the long political speech of Surya Paloh, owner and cofounder of National Democrat, a mass organization affiliated with the newly established Nasdem Party, and the frequent appearance of Golkar chairman Aburizal Bakrie on TV One, which is partly owned by the Bakrie family, although the elections were still some three years away.
"The PDI-P could not easily protest this condition as our political opponents would easily accuse us of being jealous of their strong media resources," Ganjar said.
According to the 2008 Legislative Elections Law, a political party, for example, can air TV advertisements a maximum of 10 times a day per TV station during the campaign period.
The ruling, however, cannot be imposed on several political parties which recently aired a barrage of political advertisements through their affiliate TV stations.
With support from media tycoons like Surya Paloh and Hary Tanoesoedibjo, the president of MNC group, the 4-month-old Nasdem Party has quickly grasped public recognition as Metro TV and MNC-linked TV stations have been intensely airing the party's commercials.
The Indonesian Local TV Association (ATVLI) executive director Jimmy Silalahi suggested that the committee design a detailed and thorough list of "dos and don'ts" for parties regarding TV campaigns and advertisements.