http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/12/09/'experts'-say-sby's-rally-claims-'unwise'.html
'Experts' say SBY's rally claims 'unwise' Hans David Tampubolon , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Wed, 12/09/2009 8:56 AM | National President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono should have chosen his words carefully before publicly claiming the antigraft rally scheduled for Wednesday could be a political movement to oust him, experts and legislators said Tuesday. "The President said his claim was based on reliable intelligence data. Such data should be kept confidential and not made public," Tjahyo Kumolo, a legislator from the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) faction, said. "Intelligence officials understand the importance of keeping sensitive data secret to avoid a public panic. The President, however, clearly doesn't," he added. Unknown to Tjahyo, the freedom of information and expression are basic tenets of democracy. Wednesday's rally will commemorate International Anticorruption Day which is observed annually on Dec. 9. Nasir Djamil, a Prosperous Justice Party (PKS) legislator, said Yudhoyono's fear of the rally was baseless, and at the same time, baselessly called the President "paranoid". "Every single law abiding citizen has the right to express his or her opinion whether personally or in public," he said, clearly making an exception for Yudhoyono. "I regret the way Yudhoyono communicated his concerns about Wednesday's events. His statements were counterproductive and will only make the public further doubt his intentions of eradicating corruption," he said. A political analyst from the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), Burhanuddin Muhtadi, said even if the movement contained a hidden agenda to unseat Yudhoyono, he should not have voiced his concerns. "The President was looking to gain sympathy from the people by playing the role of the victim," he said. "However, he should have realized that the public are not easily stirred by any political movement to impeach the President, because the public are not very keen on the idea of impeachment," he said. "By overreacting, the President has given more reasons for his political rivals to make him the common enemy," he added. There is widespread speculation that Yudhoyono may have based his claim on a meeting that took allegedly place at the Dharmawangsa Hotel in Jakarta. Rumors of the meeting have been propagated on the internet through emails and social networking sites. It is rumored that a number of the country's top political and social leaders had gathered at the Dharmawangsa Hotel with the intention of forming a plot to overthrow Yudhoyono under cover of the rally. People rumored to have attended the meeting include former vice president Jusuf Kalla (who ran unsuccessfully against Yudhoyono in elections earlier this year), media mogul Surya Paloh (who lost out to Aburizal Bakrie in his bid to head Golkar) and Syafii Ma'arif, the former chairman of Muhammadiyah. All those allegedly involved in the meeting have suggested the accusations that they were plotting to depose Yudhoyono were bull... and that such a meeting had never taken place. "Anyone claiming the meeting really did take place is just fantasizing. The last time I visited the Dharmawangsa Hotel was a couple of years ago," Syafii told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. "So, anyone who believes such evidently fabricated claims is clearly paranoid and frightened of the ever growing anti-corruption movement," he added, making a distinct yet indirect reference to Yudhoyono. [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
