President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono ignited yet another controversy, if not misunderstanding, when he informed the public his salary had not been raised in seven years.
Government critics, ranging from ordinary people to politicians, were quick to lash out at the head of state, who they said had not shown sympathy for the tens of millions of people who are either living below the poverty line or underpaid.
For an Indonesian president salary equals automatic savings as the state covers their and their family’s living costs. Not to mention the fact that the state provides VVIP facilities for the first family.
Among the facilities enjoyed by the President is his wardrobe allowance, which was Rp 839 million (US$93,000) in 2010, the Forum for Budget Transparency (Fitra) said quoting from the State Secretariat budget. Fitra insisted President Yudhoyono was adequately paid, and with personal assets of Rp 7.6 billion and $246,000, it would be a shame if he demanded a salary rise.
The public response has gone too far as people, including a group of House of Representatives politicians, set up a donations box in the House building so that passersby could donate coins for the President.
The cynical initiative was reminiscent of a solidarity movement to help a housewife pay a huge fine handed down to her by the Tangerang District Court last year for posting her complaint about hospital services on the Internet, albeit in a contrasting mood.
Yudhoyono’s aides have denied the public’s accusation that he demanded a salary hike, but the fact that Finance Minister Agus Martowardojo later on disclosed a plan to increase the salary of state officials, including the President’s, showed otherwise.
It is quite interesting that Yudhoyono so quickly falls prey to public tirades for whatever policy or statement he makes. Only in the previous week a group of religious figures had accused his administration of telling lies to the public about its self-claimed successes in running the government.
Back in December he drew criticism for announcing that the Yogyakarta sultanate was not democratic, ignoring the fact that in many countries the two systems have coexisted in harmony.
His political foes accused him of having a hidden agenda, which was to help his Democratic Party win the gubernatorial post if the Yogyakarta royal family was stripped of its power through an amendment of the law on the province’s special status.
That Yudhoyono is vulnerable to public rants does not reflect the fact that he is a leader who received a mandate through a landslide victory in the last two elections. Whether the public expects too much from him or that he has no capability or determination to fulfill his promises only time will tell. Either way those who voted for him in 2004 and 2004 remain responsible for their choice.
The problem, perhaps, rests in the absence of dialogue between Yudhoyono and his critics. The two are two sides of a coin that never see each other although they may share similar dreams and goals to help Indonesian people prosper.
Sources say Yudhoyono resists criticism and prefers to listen to those who please him or supply good news to him. This hearsay has never been substantiated, but rarely has Yudhoyono spared time to talk to his critics, not to mention taken the initiative to approach them.
The President has for example turned down persistent requests for dialogue from representatives of the Papuan people, who are disappointed with the implementation of their province’s special autonomy, which the government deems to be the panacea of separatist aspirations there.
Nine years since the inception of special autonomy in Papua, along with tens of trillions of rupiah in development funds poured into the province, poverty and illiteracy have remained unabated in the natural resources-rich territory.
Unsettled human rights abuses and continuing impunity for perpetrators of atrocities committed there have exacerbated the anti-government sentiment, which many fear will further fuel demands for independence.
As if to add insult to injury, Yudhoyono played down acts of violence against indigenous Papuans, which may have been underreported, saying there were no gross human rights violations in the province. His statement matched the tune of the military judges who recently handed down light sentences to three Army soldiers shown on YouTube torturing civilians in Papua on charges only of disobeying their superior’s orders.
The US government through its embassy in Jakarta said Wednesday the verdicts did not reflect Indonesia’s seriousness in addressing human rights abuses in Papua.
Indeed, it has been difficult to prove the commitment of any of the post-Soeharto era’s presidents’ commitment to human rights, as well as their commitment to the fight against corruption.
A group of civil society advocates declared on Thursday a popular anticorruption movement amid their growing concern about the ugly fact that law enforcers were part of the problem in the fight against graft.
The Anti-Judicial Mafia Movement (GeRAM) was born on the heels of unresolved judicial corruption cases plaguing the country as evident in the never-ending saga of former taxman Gayus H. Tambunan.
Yudhoyono may consider the movement a slap in his face, particularly because it was launched after his announcement of a 12-point order to improve the fight against judicial corruption fell on the deaf ears of his law enforcers. Nevertheless, the President has to listen to the message conveyed by the group, or else he will lose more of the public’s trust.
— Dwi Atmanta
