Dicky Christanto, Kediri – United Development Party (PPP) chairman Suryadharma Ali has asked the media to be more balanced in covering news about hard-liner group Islam Defenders Front (FPI), claiming that most of the coverage had provided a bigger stage for FPI opponents.

"They have created bias in this particular matter," Suryadharma, who is also the religious affairs minister, said on Wednesday on the sidelines of PPP's national meeting in Kediri, East Java.

Commenting on the matter, Muhammadiyah University political expert Cecep Effendi had a different view. He said the media reports used facts as a benchmark. "Unlike Suryadharma, so far I have seldom witnessed the media using nothing but the facts in covering the news on the FPI," he told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.

When asked whether Suryadharma had a hidden motive behind his statement, Cecep said that Suryadharma's remark had clearly shown that the party was trying to get the FPI's attention, most likely in relation to the 2014 general election.

"In his capacity as party chairman, the statement is understandable. The FPI has potential with its thousands of followers," he said.

Anti-FPI sentiment went viral after the people of Palangkaraya, Papau, refused to let four FPI members disembark from a plane earlier this month at Tjilik Riwut Airport. In Jakarta, many community groups joined forces under the "Indonesia-without-the-FPI" movement and demanded that the group be disbanded.

Suryadharma has, however, expressed concern about mass organizations that resort to violence, suggesting the police take stern measure against them. "If any mass organization, even if it is PPP, uses violence, it should face legal consequences," Suryadharma said as quoted by tempo.co. (iwa)