A strategic delay<\/p>\n
Congratulations to the legal team of Gen. Wiranto. By changing
\nthe date of his official questioning from Dec. 22 to Dec. 24, the
\ngeneral was able to stall immediate substantive news reports
\nabout his testimony, since most leading papers were not published
\non Christmas Day.<\/p>\n
The following day was Sunday, generally a \"soft\" news day for
\nnewspapers, with little news analysis. Thus, Wiranto's legal team
\nwas able to engineer a strategic three-day delay in the
\ncommentaries on Wiranto's testimony. They no doubt realize that
\nnews that is not reported for three days tends to lose some of
\nits impact.<\/p>\n
Monday, continuing his efforts to deflect press scrutiny, the
\ngeneral clothed himself in strange public relations camouflage --
\noffering his ideas on immigration reform. Instead of dealing with
\nAmbon, as the minister of political affairs and security might be
\nexpected to do, Gen. Wiranto now attempts to inject himself
\ninappropriately into the area of diplomatic reciprocity.<\/p>\n
If immigration reciprocity interests Gen. Wiranto this much,
\nhe might want to reflect on the fact none of the countries who
\nenjoy visa-free entry into Indonesia impose an exit tax on
\nresident Indonesians who depart their countries. Why doesn't Gen.
\nWiranto address that issue? And why is Gen. Wiranto still
\n\"General\" Wiranto? Weren't the military appointees to the Cabinet
\ninstructed to resign their military commissions? General-Minister
\nWiranto exhibits an ominous tendency to believe he is above the
\nlaw. To what excesses did this delusion lead, in East Timor and
\nAceh in 1999 and Jakarta in 1998?<\/p>\n
DONNA K. WOODWARD<\/p>\n
Medan, North Sumatra<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-strategic-delay-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }