The General Elections Commission (KPU) and the Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) signed on Thursday a memorandum of understanding (MoU), agreeing to work together in monitoring the use of broadcasting as a campaign tool for the 2014 legislative election.

The monitoring was deemed necessary to prevent broadcast media from being abused and exploited for political purposes, KPU chairman Husni Kamil Manik said during the signing ceremony at the KPU’s headquarters in Central Jakarta.

“The use of broadcasting for campaigning is not allowed until 21 days before the 2014 election’s quiet period. However, we have found some parties that used broadcast media for campaigning purposes, even before we determined which parties were eligible to compete in the election,” he said.

KPI chairman Mochamad Riyanto said some political parties used means other than advertisements and in so doing, misused broadcast media for political purposes.

“One may use talk shows and public service announcements carrying messages that are beneficial to a specific political party,” he said.

The Press Council, meanwhile, recently acknowledged that numerous media companies, owned by politicians, could be exploited to run programs and advertisements that supported owner-affiliated political groups.

Indonesia’s top three media magnates are politicians. They are Golkar Party chairman and 2014 presidential candidate Aburizal Bakrie, NasDem Party chairman Surya Paloh and the former chairman of NasDem Party’s council of experts, Hary Tanoesoedibjo.

The KPU and the KPI, therefore, would invite stakeholders, such as the Association of Indonesian Private Televisions (ATVSI), the Press Council, the Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) and the Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), as well as political parties to formulate a regulation on the matter, Mochamad said.

“We will talk with the stakeholders tomorrow and the political parties next Monday so that we may have a regulation to improve the quality of broadcasting content and to ensure that political parties have equal opportunities to campaign through the broadcast media,” he said.

To improve the quality of broadcast content, the regulation will aim to increase the amount of content geared toward emphasizing the importance of democracy and the exercise of citizens’ political rights, according to Mochamad.

The regulation also aimed to curb content with messages that discredit and defame other parties, he said.

The KPU and the KPI had also agreed to establish a committee, drawing members from both commissions as well as other bodies such as the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu), to focus on monitoring broadcast media during the campaign period, he added.

According to Commission Regulation No. 15/2012 on stages and organization of the 2014 election, the campaign period started on Jan. 11, 2013 and will last until April 5, 2014.

At the moment, however, the 10 political parties eligible to contest the presidential and legislative elections may only conduct indoor campaigns.

During the campaign period, political parties are prohibited from holding rallies, public meetings or advertising activities until 21 days before the “quiet period”.

Public or open meetings and the use of mass media advertising is only allowed between March 16, 2014 and April 5, 2014. (han)

Popular

Indonesia not affected by Southeast Asia-wide heat wave: BMKG

Residents fear for safety as Mount Ruang volcano erupts

In defense of Indonesian democracy