TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Indonesian Broadcasting Commission (KPI) reprimanded five television stations which broke the rules on airing news of presidential candidates. The TV stations, namely Metro TV, TV One, as well as three stations under the Media Nusantara Citra (MNC) Group, RCTI, MNC TV and Global TV, face a ban on the extension of their broadcasting permits.

"If they continue to break the rules, we will recommend that their permits be revoked," said Iddy Muzzayad, KPI deputy chairman, in parliament building, Senayan, yesterday. Under the law on broadcasting, the Communication and Informatics Ministry holds the authority to revoke the permit.

According to Iddy, the partiality occurred because the stations are owned by politicians. The National Democratic (NasDem) Party Chairman Surya Paloh, owner of Metro TV, supports Joko Widodo-Jusuf Kalla. Meanwhile MNC Group Head Harry Tanoesoedibjo and Golkar Party Chairman Aburizal Bakrie, who owns TV One and Anteve, support Prabowo Subianto-Hatta Rajasa.

Based on KPI observation on May 19-25, Metro TV gave longer news time on Jokowi and Kalla. On the other hand, TV One and MNC Group reported news of Prabowo-Hatta more frequently.

Mohammad Syahfan Sampurno, the House of Representatives (DPR) communication commission member, said that the partiality had gone out of line and the accumulated sanctions imposed on those TV stations should be a good reason for the government to revoke their permits.

WAYAN AGUS PURNOMO | HUSSEIN ABRI YUSUF MUDA DONGORAN | PRAMONO