Febriamy Hutapea – An analyst has criticized President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono's use of implied "political threats" against his coalition partners over the Bank Century bailout inquiry, including raising the issue of tax avoidance in clear reference to Golkar Party chairman Aburizal Bakrie.
Ikrar Nusa Bakti, a political analyst at the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI), said Aburizal's legal problems with the Directorate General of Taxation were an issue of governance and not a tool to apply political pressure.
He suggested that if Yudhoyono was motivated purely by a desire for good governance, then he should have clamped down on alleged tax dodgers when Aburizal served in his previous cabinet as the coordinating minister for the economy and as the coordinating minister for people's welfare.
"The game of political threats is not healthy for the relationship between coalition partners," Ikrar said.
Yudhoyono warned on Thursday that those who mixed business and political interests would weaken the economy. Citing the tax case, he said the practice of collusion had protected businesspeople from paying their taxes.
Ikrar said threats would only create bitterness that would lead to a cycle of political revenge among coalition partners. "The more they are threatened, the more daring they will be," he said.
Aburizal, who was a major supporter of the president in the run-up to the 2004 elections, has responded to Yudhoyono's comments by saying his party would remain critical of the government despite any threats. "We are not afraid of being threatened at gunpoint, let alone by tax evasion allegations," the Golkar chief said.
Ikrar said Yudhoyono's political management had been found wanting and it was better to solve problems "internally through a special approach with coalition party leaders."
He said the ongoing dispute over Bank Century and the subsequent House of Representatives special inquiry into the bailout represented Yudhoyono's worst performance since he was first elected in 2004.
The political analyst also took aim at Yudhoyono's "melancholic political communication," namely a long list of complaints, including Wednesday's criticism of the media for its allegedly unbalanced news coverage, which he claimed could deter direct foreign investment. The president also criticized protesters who had used a buffalo at a Jakarta demonstration to mock him.
"This will only hurt Yudhoyono rather than benefit his administration," Ikrar said.
Ramadhan Pohan, a lawmaker from the president's Democratic Party, brushed off the criticism, claiming that Yudhoyono had not resorted to threats. He also said that if Yudhoyono was such a poor communicator, he would not have been presented with an award as "Asia's best communicator."
Yudhoyono received the Gold Standard Award for Political Communication from a public affairs publication. The president's spokesman, Julian Aldrin Pasha, said the award demonstrated that Yudhoyono's growing stature abroad was not appreciated by his own people, who do not give him the respect he deserves.
Meanwhile, Cecep Effendi, a political analyst from the Indonesia Institute, said he did not believe the ruling coalition would disintegrate over the Bank Century dispute. He said politicking was to be expected given that the bailout was an unpopular decision and political parties were looking to consolidate ahead of the 2014 elections.
Cecep said it was more likely that the House special committee investigating the bailout would recommend improvements to the nation's banking system, rather than charge those responsible for approving the cash injection into the ailing lender.
"The coalition will still run, whatever the problem is," Cecep said. "The coalition parties can't get financial sources if they are removed from the center of power. If they step out from the government, what do they get?"