Cholil Mahmud: FESMI Was Never Officially Invited To ACTION Debate

JAKARTA - The Federation of Indonesian Musician Unions (FESMI) is one of the names mentioned to be present in an open debate held by the All-Indonesian Composition Association (AKSI) today in Senayan, Central Jakarta, Thursday, April 10.

But in reality, FESMI never really accepted an official invitation from the ACTION. Therefore, Cholil Mahmud as the Acting General Chair (Plt) stated that his party was not present.

"Previously, we never felt that we had received the invitation, let alone stated that we would attend, so we were surprised when our name (FESMI) was claimed and listed as the party who would attend the event," Cholil said when contacted by the media crew.

Cholil mentioned the need for official invitations to be submitted by the ACTION as the organizer. The reason is, open debate regarding the Copyright Law can also affect public perceptions.

FESMI itself does not object to discussions with ACTION, but Cholil requested that there be an official invitation.

"In the future, if there are similar invitations and the process is administratively orderly, and if the time is right, of course we are willing to attend," he said.

Furthermore, Cholil also commented on how an open debate should be held. He felt it would be better if a similar event was organized by policy makers, so that the results of the discussion could be more beneficial to the public.

"Just for the sake of thinking, it is better to manage the efforts to discuss copyright problems for all groups, so that they can solve problems and bring good results as expected by many parties," concluded Cholil Mahmud.

For information, the open debate of ACTION was attended by members of the ACTION, such as Ahmad Dhani (as moderators), Piyu, Ari Bias, Badai, and Minola Sebayang. Meanwhile, the other parties who attended were Rayen Pono and Kadri Mohamad.