Erwida Maulia, Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yu-dhoyono has been urged to apologize for linking Friday's hotel bombings to complaints made about the presidential election.
On Tuesday, the People's Democracy Guardian, a coalition of various organizations and individuals calling for investigations into election irregularities, accused the President of blaming people who had complained about the election for causing a political disturbance.
The group demanded the apology while presenting their findings on election irregularities to the Elections Supervisory Body (Bawaslu) in Central Jakarta.
In his speech shortly after the bombings last Friday, the President related the terrorist attacks to alleged efforts to sabotage his re-election.
"Indonesia was going to be made like Iran, and at the end Yudhoyono would not have been allowed to be sworn in," he said.
In response, the People's Democracy Guardian's Ray Rangkuti said, "The President was alluding to people who were investigating election violations. He doesn't have strong proof and therefore he should apologize."
Dani Setiawan, another member, said, "The President's statement is terror for us who are fighting to uncover election violations."
The group claims the President is resorting to the strategies of the New Order regime under former president Soeharto, when he called the democratic right to request an investigations a "political disturbance".
"Yet despite the intimidation and discouraging statements about our activities, we will not stop our efforts to uncover violations," Ray said.
Bawaslu chairman Nur Hidayat Sardini agreed the group's efforts were important in upholding the principle of fairness. "The Bawaslu has also faced challenges when trying to investigate the elections," he said.
"Many parties do not appreciate our efforts. They even say that revealing these violations may threaten stability."
The People's Democracy Guardian also accuse Yudhoyono of causing widespread anxiety.
"Only a few hours after the attack, the President was spreading fear among the public by talking about himself being a terrorist target and linking terrorism with the election," said Chalid Muhammad, a member of the group.
"The President should have encouraged the Indonesian people to be optimistic and to fight the terrorists. Yet he did otherwise."
Yudhoyono, meanwhile, called on the public to stay alert to unusual activities that might be related to planned terrorist attacks. "Stay alert, but don't be too anxious," he said.
"The public must be alert and concerned about the strange activities terrorists are involved in. I'm not trying to scare you. It's my obligation as the head of state to ask that we keep doing our daily activities, but with eyes wide open."
In an apparent about-face, Yudhoyono also said the bombings "should not be stirred toward other issues". He called on Indonesians to unite and rise to the challenge. (mrs)