Jakarta – President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's recent statement in response to criticism raised against him has drawn strong criticism from some politicians and communications experts.
"I'm certain that SBY's credibility has been severely damaged by the uneven approach to eradicating corruption. That's why he shouldn't be so allergic to criticism since all the criticism is meant to improve his government's performance," political communications expert at the University of Indonesia, Tjipta Lesmana, told a discussion Saturday.
"It is very clear that the war against corruption is only directed at SBY's political opponents or anyone who does not have political backing. Why did the government not continue with the investigations of corruption cases allegedly involving officials of the current government?" he asked.
Tjipta said Yudhoyono's statements sounded like he was complaining about his administration's inability to eradicate corruption in Indonesia. "The plea to stop disrupting the work of his government sounds like he is almost ready to give up right now," he said.
Tjipta was referring to a recent statement made by the President when inaugurating a new headquarters for the Financial Transaction Reports Analysis Center (PPATK) in Jakarta last Tuesday.
During the event, SBY said the government had to work very hard to "wash the dishes" left by so many people who had partied hedonistically in the past and "didn't clean up after themselves."
"Those people only washed their hands. They forgot about the dishes. For the sake of justice, I would ask those people to stop disrupting our efforts to clean up the mess that they left behind," he said.
Politician Budiman Sudjatmiko of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) said the President's statements would have no effect other than to confuse people even more about the government's strategy for tackling corruption.
"He needed to clarify what he meant by the 'party', the 'dishes' and 'stop disrupting us'. If the message was meant for previous governments, then he should not forget that he was part of them as a high-ranking Cabinet member in the presidencies of B.J. Habibie, Abdurrahman "Gus Dur" Wahid and Megawati Soekarnoputri."
"So, he was also at the party. That is why he needs to clarify his statement," said Budiman.
"He must also specify what he considers to be disruption. Does he deem criticism and political opposition to his administration as disruption? If so, then he is not as democratic as he thinks he is," he said.
Commenting on Yudhoyono's anticorruption efforts, Budiman said that the campaign clearly violated the principle of equality before the law.
M. Jusuf Rizal, a Yudhoyono supporter and former activist with the Blora Center, an organization established prior to the 2004 general election to garner support for Yudhoyono, said the current government had many achievements to its name, including the fact that many corrupt generals and governors had been brought to trial. (uwi)