Indonesia’s political satire will remain on the air
An Indonesia minister fails to find humor in political satire. He even said it humiliates government institutions and provides a “negative political education” for the people. But on the other hand, by revealing this, I think the minister “has” a sense of humor, too…
Groundbreaking political satire Republik Mimpi (Republic of Dreams) TV program, says it will remain on the air despite a threat by Information and Communications Minister Sofyan A. Djalil to file a complaint with the Broadcasting Commission over the Sunday evening television program aired by Metro TV.
The cigarette company that was the show’s main sponsor of Republik Mimpi, which features impersonations of current and former presidents and government officials, terminated its contract Wednesday, amid speculation that the move was made after receiving political pressure, as The Jakarta Post reported today.
“In response to the minister’s plan, the team has decided to continue airing the program,” Effendi Ghazali, the brains behind Republik Mimpi, which runs on Metro TV, told The Post.
In June last year, the similar program, Republik Benar Benar Mabuk (Drunken Republic) was taken off the air by television station Indosiar after complaints from government officials, who disliked the depiction of a fictitious president and vice president who resembled President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Vice President Jusuf Kalla.
Minister Djalil said the Republik Mimpi provided a “negative political education” for the people, but why do he and other government officials just let other “negative education” programs aired every day in the country? Why, for instance, the “very stupid” soap opera called sinetrons didn’t draw protest from the government?
I think the government officials must put other big problems faced by this country as their top priority rather than filing a complaint to the most-creative program like the Republik Mimpi. And, to some extent, it’s also a violation of freedom of the press.
So, stop protesting a dream program!
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Thank you for this article. I enjoy to watch Republik Mimpi and hope they don’t take action to take it off the air.
I think it’s a great show!