Press in Indonesia

Does a journalist make a good Minister for Information? The question which might have been asked here in the past has now cropped up in Indonesia. In this Southeast Asian country. current criticisms of the official handling of the press are being directed at Minister Harmoko, a former journalist of considerable reputation. who has been in charge of Information since early eighties. The relations between the press and the government had never been smooth in Indonesia, even from the days of the late President Sukarno. This great founder of the Republic had closed down a number of newspapers. including one edited. by the Magsaysay Award winner, Mochtar Lubis who had also served a prison term. President Suharto inherited this legacy of press control. Although. over the years, newspaper criticisms of the Indonesian leader have become more muted than before, the relationship be-tween a section of the powerful metropolitan press and the administration remains uneasy, tense at times. Minister Harmoko tends to get tougher with the press, as his credentials as a former journalist become more and nbore a matter of the past. After all, a decade is a bit too long for an ex-Jourmilist to retain his original convictions in press Feedom. In late May. he told a meeting that less government control of the press would "lead to anarchy." Now. the editors have started agitating for the repeal of the Information Ministry decree which' allows the Minister to revoke the publishing licence of a newspaper or a magazine "after consulting the National Press Council". On the face of it, one should welcome the role assigned to the Press Council in this matter. But, then, it is Mr Harmoko again who enjoys wide powers as the Chairman of the Press Council. If the powerful Jakarta press makes up its mind to put the Minister in his place. Mr Harmoko may well be on borrowed time as a member of the cabinet of Mr Suharto. He may also forget about returning to his old profession which he has so badly let down.