Rabby Pramudatama, Bagus BT Saragih and Rendi A. Witular, Reportage – When President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did not immediately respond to the crisis engulfing the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) over the weekend, many assumed that Yudhoyono was busy with even more pressing issues of state.
However, as those monitoring his schedule know, the only official function on the President's agenda was attending a gathering of the Pawitandirogo Community in Jakarta, an acronym for Pacitan, Ngawi, Magetan, Madiun and Ponorogo, East Java.
Yudhoyono, who was born and raised in Pacitan, was noticeably absent after police officers stormed the offices of the KPK on Jl. Rasuna Said in Kuningan, South Jakarta, on Friday evening.
Bengkulu Police detective chief Sr. Comr. Dedy Rianto told the reporters early Saturday that the officers were at the KPK to "coordinate" with the commission's leaders regarding a crime allegedly committed by Comr. Novel Baswedan, a police officer seconded to the KPK.
Novel is one of the commission's investigators who is handling the investigation of Insp. Gen. Djoko Susilo, who was questioned by Novel's peers only hours earlier.
Critics said that the police were trying to stop the KPK from digging deeper into a graft case surrounding the procurement of traffic simulators at the National Police Traffic Corps that has implicated National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo, among other senior police officers.
Hundreds of activists descended on the KPK's headquarters soon after the police arrived on Friday night, and picketed the building until the officers left around midnight.
The activists' vigil lasted until early Saturday morning, when many began to ask where Yudhoyono had been during the stand off.
On Sunday morning, when hundreds of activists rallied at the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle to draw public attention to what they said were police efforts to bully the KPK, Yudhoyono was in the Cipanas Presidential Palace, West Java, spending the weekend with his family and several close aides.
The rally was staged to urge Yudhoyono to take action against efforts to weaken the KPK. "Today, we ask the question about SBY's whereabouts. Where was he? He made no decisions and took no stance on the issue," rights activist Usman Hamid said during the rally.
Activists said that Yudhoyono's apparent indecisiveness would pave the way for further "massive and organized attempts" to weaken the KPK, such as when the National Police ordered the withdrawl of officers seconded to the KPK as investigators.
As calls for a statement from the President grew louder, Yudhoyono's inner circle, finally, responded. The President's son Edhie Baskoro, who is also the secretary-general of the Democratic Party said that Yudhoyono did not have to interfere in the stand off.
Deputy Law and Human Rights Minister Denny Indrayana came to the KPK's headquarters late on Friday to convey his support to the antigraft body's commissioners.
Earlier, Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam and Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Djoko Suyanto downplayed the calls, saying that not all matters should be directly handled by the President.
Over the weekend Twitter was abuzz with hashtag #dimanaSBY (Where is SBY) and #WantedSBY, which users used to deliver harsh comments about Yudhoyono.
"Maybe he was busy composing new songs," was one of the most repeated lines on Twitter, a swipe on the President's release of several musical albums while in office.
Although the public outcry appeared to prompt the Palace to respond, critics said that it was too little too late. On Sunday afternoon, State Secretary Sudi Silalahi held a press conference at the State Palace saying that Yudhoyono would address the nation on Monday evening.
"The situation that has continued to develop with a negative trend and that many parties have politically manipulated the case. The President has decided to 'take over' and will deliver a clarification to the public," Sudi said.
In 2009, Yudhoyono also kept silent when the KPK and the police were involved in the gecko-versus-crocodile saga, when then KPK commissioners Bibit Samad Riyanto and Chandra M. Hamzah were investigated by the police.
Weeks after Bibit and Chandra were named suspects by the police, Yudhoyono finally made a public statement, which was not considered supportive of the KPK. Will Yudhoyono make the same mistake this time?