A questionable show<\/p>\n
President B.J. Habibie has been surprisingly generous to the
\nforeign media. If it were only so with the local news media as
\nwell.<\/p>\n
Habibie's recent statement to The New York Times saying that
\nhe had a better feel for the younger generation than his
\npredecessor, Soeharto, sounds a little ironic. The fact that the
\nnew President has stood aloof from the local media and has yet to
\ntalk face-to-face with ordinary Indonesians -- much less, the
\nstudents whose reform ideas he had rejected until the eleventh
\nhour of Soeharto's rule -- is no secret.<\/p>\n
What Habibie should understand is that his pretentious show,
\nillustrated in a recent exclusive interview with the Cable News
\nNetwork, does little to inspire respect from the people.<\/p>\n
Since his appointment as the country's third head of state on
\nMay 21, Habibie seems to have been confused as to where to put
\nthe local media and the people within his format. What we have
\nseen is that he prefers to have his ministers or anybody who
\ncomes to pay him a courtesy call to act as his spokesperson. Such
\nvisitors include, among others, reform advocate Amien Rais, House
\nSpeaker Harmoko and leaders of religious groups.<\/p>\n
This communication style looks rather odd in this age of
\nmodern mass communications. The President may be copying the
\nstyle of his predecessor -- Soeharto never held regular media
\nconferences during his 32 years in power -- though Habibie
\ncertainly has a better capability to talk to the foreign media.<\/p>\n
Having watched Habibie's peculiar style since taking the
\npresidency, this newspaper has tried to advise him to modernize
\nhis approach. Should he be too busy to talk to the public
\ndirectly, he could hold a news conference, for example. If he had
\nno time for a conference, he could grant interviews with a
\nlimited a number of local editors.<\/p>\n
A Habibie watcher said recently that since starting his new
\njob, the scientist we once knew had changed: The President had
\nnow started to read newspapers, a thing he was reluctant to do
\nbefore. Upon hearing this, many now believe that this significant
\nchange might lead to something else positive: the ability to
\nlisten to other people.<\/p>\n
We, too, believed that Habibie's reluctance to listen to
\nothers may have become a thing of the past until we heard an
\naccount signaling otherwise from the leaders of the Catholic
\nBishops Conference. At a news conference following their meeting
\nwith the President on Monday, the bishops' spokesman said that
\nduring the meeting the bishops hardly had time to elaborate on
\nmany of their comments because \"the President dominated much of
\nthe conversation\".<\/p>\n
The President's manners are lamentable because put together
\nwith his other incomprehensible styles it is not hard for us to
\nenvisage that he will lead this nation to a standstill in this
\nfast changing world.<\/p>\n
It is noteworthy that Habibie's style can be portrayed in the
\nawkward selection of his \"reform\" cabinet, in which many of the
\nmembers represent stubborn antireform elements of the old
\nadministration, and in his refusal to say bluntly that his
\ngovernment is transitional in nature. This all shows that he is
\nnot in the least sensitive to the people's aspirations. Perhaps,
\nit is the characteristic of a leader who has both feet firmly
\nplanted in the air.<\/p>\n
Viewing the fact that Habibie was a steadfast part of the
\nSoeharto administration, that there are so many legal experts
\nstill questioning the legality of his appointment, that students
\nare still demanding his immediate departure and that he may well
\nbe prompted to lead a national effort to regain any money
\nSoeharto and his cronies may have illegally accrued during the
\nNew Order regime, we just cannot understand why Habibie continues
\nwith his insipid and weak management.<\/p>\n
We are afraid that his refusal to change his tune might
\ninspire his ministers to follow his example, which would lead to
\na rejection of openness and a return to the old tradition of
\nfabricated truths.<\/p>",
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