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The week in review : Contesting energies
It was a week of building up energy and strategies on both fronts - among those who wished to take advantage of their democratic right, to voice their feelings about the re-elected President - and for SBY himself, the target of the demonstrations
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t was a week of building up energy and strategies on both fronts - among those who wished to take advantage of their democratic right, to voice their feelings about the re-elected President - and for SBY himself, the target of the demonstrations. Soldiers helped to build an emergency tent in front of the palace and up to 10,000 police officers were out to anticipate the worst on Thursday, the 100th day of Yudhoyono's second term.
And for the second time ahead of big protests Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, very conveniently, had other things to do - out of town and out of sight of the besieging mob. The protesters did show up in the thousands, but not the tens of thousands as earlier claimed.
As usual, they comprised not only idealist students, but also housewives and professionals who helped provide transport and food packages. But there were also "professional demonstrators" who acknowledged that they could make good use of the Rp 25,000 they were given for the lively stroll around the Palace.
Apparently SBY didn't want to be completely out of sight, however, and made sure that on D-day a press entourage was with him, leaving at the break of dawn for his day trip to officiate a new power plant in Banten, west of the capital. From there, he boomed out claims that he took any criticism in his stride, that the protests were all OK and orderly, as far as he knew; but to expect too much from the first 100 days was absurd.
So the messages of the protesters and SBY were all made public, but they did not meet each other.
And here we have the reinforced result of the image-obsessed leader - one that avoids direct contact with the masses. The public must be forgiven for thinking that he didn't try, if only because we didn't quite hear him protesting his presidential guards and security advisors against meeting the people. Surely the anticipated condition didn't come remotely close to the weekly masses faced by the Pope, who was last hit by a person identified as a deranged woman.
Not unlike Barack Obama, currently criticized for staying away from the dirty details of controversial legislation, SBY needs to consult his advisors in trying to tread that fine balance between keeping safe and signaling remoteness. Meeting the masses would have helped his image - already perceived remote while his officials (i.e. Finance Minister Sri Mulyani) take the punches; and inspiring a popular change to his middle name to "Bimbang", or Mr. Hesitant, because of his slow decision making.
SBY, however, will have many more opportunities to brush up his image, especially given his ratings. While his popularity had declined, according to polls this week SBY was in favor among well over 60 percent of respondents during the early days of his second term.
On the international scene SBY would hope for better appreciation of Indonesia's contribution to world peace, as talks started in London on Thursday on reconciliation efforts in Afghanistan. Our foreign minister, Marty Natalegawa, said Indonesia would "offer its capacity building in areas of democracy". Indonesia continues to help in earthquake-ravaged Haiti, though SBY's former VP, Jusuf Kalla, may take the credit in leading the Red Cross there, in sharing Indonesia's experience with the quake and tsunami in Aceh.
Indonesians can continue to criticize their President, but whatever SBY's weakness it does not explain all the flaws - such as intolerance. The week began with the disheartening latest report of church burning, this time in the remote Padang Lawas regency in North Sumatra. Two churches and a pastor's home were razed. The province, with fairly equal numbers of Muslims and Christians, became more significant as an area of tole-rance amid communal conflicts in Maluku and Central Sulawesi.
The report came just as international delegates flew into Jakarta for an interfaith forum; while NGOs under the Bhinneka Tunggal Ika Alliance opened a national symposium in Manado, North Sulawesi, on pluralism; and another, the Institut Titian Perdamaian, also gathered affiliated groups from across the country this week in Makassar, South Sulawesi, to evaluate their "conflict prevention" efforts.
All such attempts were aimed at our higher ability to live in diversity, respecting each other as fellow inhabitants, of the nation and of the planet.
The government's responsibility would be to show its firmness in what is acceptable and what is not; and it is in such instances in church burnings that this firmness comes into question.
In his high-level meeting in Bogor last week, the President had stated a commitment to Bhinneka Tunggal Ika (Unity in Diversity) and Pancasila (the state ideology) as a priority in his 100-day program. This came as a relief: it would have to mean that security personnel, governors, regents and mayors know to translate those principles into daily life.
At the very least it would not mean trying to appease those who attacked minorities and their churches by stating that the churches didn't have permits, as frequently cited by police.
Managing to live up to our frequent-stated commitments on harmony would be good for the economy too. In our readers' forum, foreigners have indeed said they would stay here longer if we made the visa process more welcoming, and even valid for longer than up to 60 days, in line with the newest regulation. Just as long as we improve the promotion, and more importantly, perhaps, the toilets.
- Ati Nurbaiti
