Minister Urges Media to Also Cover Legislative Election

Deputy for Communication, Information and Apparatus of Coordinating of Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Rus Nurhadi Sutedjo, reads remarks from the Coordinating Minister at Coordination and Consultation Forum, in Bandung, West Java, Wednesday (20/3). (Photo by: Heni/PR)

Coordinating Minister for Political, Legal and Security Affairs Wiranto criticized the media for only focusing on presidential election.

“In fact, leaders are not only President and Vice President, but also members of legislative council such as members of the House of Representatives (DPR), the Regional House of Representatives (DPRD), and the Regional Representative Council (DPD),” Wiranto said in a remarks as quoted by Deputy for Communication, Information and Apparatus of Coordinating Ministry for Political, Legal and Security Affairs, Rus Nurhadi Sutedjo, at Coordination and Consultation Forum, in Bandung, West Java, Wednesday (20/3).

Wiranto reminded the public that the 2019 General Elections on 17 April would be a pivotal moment in the history of Indonesia’s democracy since it will be carried out simultaneously for presidents and vice presidents and members of the DPR.

Therefore, to create democratic elections, the Coordinating Minister encouraged the media to collaborate with related ministries/institutions in educating the public about democracy in their information dissemination.

Wiranto also urged the media to continue promoting political participation to the public in their journalistic products.

“The role of media to disseminate information to the public should be optimized with its function as the agent of democracy,” he said, adding that media as an agent of information dissemination must also uphold professionalism and idealism to maintain public trust.

For the record, the Coordination and Consultation Forum was held to address issues emerging from the role of press in contributing to the success of the 2019 General Election, particularly neutrality and independence of the media in materializing the democratic elections.

According to Wiranto, the success of the 2019 simultaneous elections is not only the responsibility of elections implementing agencies such as General Election Commission (KPU), the Election Supervisory Board (Bawaslu), and the Election Organization Ethics Council (DKPP), but also the responsibility of all layers of society.

Therefore, Wiranto said that synergy between elections implementing agencies and related stakeholders is the key to the success of the elections. (HEN/ES)

Translated by : Rany Anjany Subachrum
Edited by : M. Ersan Pamungkas