T

he former president Soeharto, and the cruel faces of his top confidants in his Cabinet, jeered at me on Friday while I watched a live broadcast of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at a press conference. At the conference, he gave a perfect technical explanation about his view on the arrest of two KPK deputies, Bibit Samad Rianto and Chandra M. Hamzah.

What I saw was the "ghost" of dictatorship on the TV screen. Soeharto haunted me during Yudhoyono's media briefing.

What I watched Friday not so much the President of the world's third largest democracy, but more the leader of one of the world's most corrupt nations. Yudhoyono has potentially damaged his reputation as a credible leader who won the majority support from voters in the July presidential election.

National Police chief Gen. Bambang Hendarso Danuri's press conference, which was broadcast after Yudhoyono's, on the same issue, was not much different.

Just ask ordinary Indonesians how they describe the police, I think many of them will share my thoughts about the state institution. Right or wrong, I often feel uneasy anytime a policeman is near. Are there only few people who share this fear about state officers with me?

Yudhoyono was right when he said justice should apply even to the KPK deputies who were detained by the police Thursday.

Technically and legally Yudhoyono was right. But what Yudhoyono appears to have forgotten is a sense of justice. Many Indonesians were upset by Yudhoyono *s stance on the KPK controversy, right or wrong. And public discontent toward police arrogance and the Attorney General's Office (AGO) holds much more weight than Yudhoyono citing his position was "no position".

Yudhoyono might not know the case of corruption suspect Anggoro's tapped conversation transcript had been widely circulated. Yudhoyono perhaps was unaware a tapped conversation transcript - allegedly by a senior police general - on the Bank Century bailout had been common knowledge among the public.

Even less-educated Indonesians could smell something fishy when the two KPK officials were arrested.

To be honest, I saw a different side to Yudhoyono during the media briefing. He is no longer the President who firmly supported the KPK's decision to jail the father-in-law of his eldest son, Agus Harimurti. He is no longer the President who proudly announced his determination to continue the war against corruption.

Yudhoyono knows he won major praise from world leaders and international media for his success in significantly helping eradicate corruption.Does Yudhoyono forget he and his Democratic Party won landslide victories in the presidential and legislative elections because of his corruption success stories?

I am sure Yudhoyono knows very well it was the KPK that played a major - if not the largest - role in his success. And now why has the KPK become public enemy No. 1?

I do apologize to Yudhoyono if he is offended at being compared to Soeharto.

As a journalist who covered Soeharto for quite a long time, I found he was genius in citing laws, the Constitution, government regulations and his own regulations to justify his brutal acts against his critics and defend corrupt officials and his children's businesses. Soeharto did not care for justice, because he believed he was justice. In 1989, Soeharto threatened to "clobber" his critics who wanted him to step down.

Soeharto's ministers also often heartlessly defended gross human rights violations and corruption. At the time, the corrupt officials were lucky because they could do anything they liked in a country with law and justice in the hands of its rulers.

The times have changed. Yu-dhoyono's coalition now controls the House of Representatives.

But many fear with a poor system of checks and balances, Soeharto's era will repeat itself. The government has become too strong and will become much less tolerant of its critics.

Yudhoyono needs to know many Indonesians may be upset with his stance on the KPK case. And it will be damaging for him not only domestically but internationally. However, for corrupt officials, Yu-dhoyono's stance is something to celebrate.