Media confirm Akbar's public relations skills<\/p>\n
Ardimas Sasdi, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Berkeley, California<\/p>\n
ajambak@uclink.berkeley.edu<\/p>\n
In a verdict seen by many as a blow to efforts to build clean
\ngovernance in Indonesia as one of the aims of the reform
\nmovement, the Supreme Court acquitted House of Representatives
\nSpeaker Akbar Tandjung of corruption in the Buloggate scandal on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
Of five justices handling the high-profile case, only one
\nexpressed a dissenting opinion against the controversial verdict,
\nthe others ordering that appropriate action be taken to restore
\nthe name of Akbar, popularly known among his peers and enemies as
\na veteran politician.<\/p>\n
The highest judicial body, in a verdict that saved Akbar from
\njail, which would have blocked his plans to enter the
\npresidential race in July 2004 if he won the Golkar Party
\nconvention, said that the defendant was not found guilty of
\nreceiving money to enrich himself, and that as a minister at that
\ntime he was merely carrying out then president B.J. Habibie's
\ninstructions.<\/p>\n
The drama in the Rp 40 billion (US$5 million) Buloggate, which
\nimplicated Akbar as chairman of the ruling party during the
\nSoeharto era, began in 2001 when President Megawati Soekarnoputri
\napproved an investigation into the case. The district court
\nsentenced Akbar to three years' imprisonment in a verdict that
\nwas confirmed by the appellate court.<\/p>\n
But unlike Dadang Sukandar and Winfried Simatupang, two
\naccomplices in the case, Akbar has been living as a free man
\npending his appeal.<\/p>\n
Lower courts sentenced Dadang and Winfried, respectively
\nexecutives of a foundation and a subcontractor, responsible for
\ndistributing aid to feed the poor who were reeling under the
\neconomic crisis that had crippled Indonesia since 1997, to three
\nyears' imprisonment for the misappropriation. Both are currently
\nserving their sentences in jail.<\/p>\n
Human rights lawyer Todung Mulya Lubis (Kompas, Feb. 13) said
\nthere was a legal problem in the Supreme Court verdict because
\nthe acquittal of Akbar left the graft case without a main
\ndefendant, as Dadang and Winfried were only accomplices who had
\ntaken orders from another person.<\/p>\n
Apart from the disputed court verdict, criticized by many as
\nlacking a sense of public justice amid alleged pressure from
\ninvisible hands on the justices tackling the case, the ending of
\nAkbar's trial is an interesting phenomenon seen from the
\nperspective of communications.<\/p>\n
Media-savvy Akbar won not only the case, but also an
\ninformation war.<\/p>\n
Print and electronic media, working under pressure to meet
\ndeadlines with newspapers, must go to print at 1 a.m., while
\ntelevision airs its news at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. Both focused on the
\nhuman interest aspects of how Akbar, like a person in distress,
\nwaited for the court verdict. Media reports said, however, that
\nAkbar followed the trial merely to clarify leaks he had
\nreportedly received from informants.<\/p>\n
Akbar, fasting as part of common practice among Muslims who
\npray for a good thing to happen at a crucial time, followed
\nclosely the live television coverage of the session at the
\nSupreme Court from his residence. The reading of the verdict
\nended around 6 p.m., a time for Muslims to say their evening
\nprayers and break their fast.<\/p>\n
Upon hearing his acquittal, Akbar, who had managed to maintain
\nhis composure throughout the six hours he had monitored the
\nverdict delivery, immediately kneeled to God in an evening prayer
\nafter receiving a big kiss from his wife, a scene that would have
\nundoubtedly moved any sentient being. Akbar was also accompanied
\nby two of his four daughters and his loyal supporters during the
\n"television drama". (His other daughters are studying in Oregon,
\nU.S.)<\/p>\n
Media reports have described Akbar, the leader of Golkar, a
\nparty used by former president Soeharto as a political machine
\ntogether with the military in suppressing his political
\nopponents, a hero because he was depicted as the oppressed party.
\nThe media also failed to link Buloggate to the rampant abuse of
\npower by Soeharto's regime, which almost sank Indonesia to
\nbankruptcy.<\/p>\n
The problem stemmed from the failure of the media to present
\nanother side of the story of the scandal, especially the fate of
\nthousands of poor people in urban and rural areas who formed long
\nqueues under the burning sun for small packs of cheap rice during
\ngovernment distribution of the aid via workers paid by Dadang and
\nWinfried. Rice is main staple food of most Indonesians.<\/p>\n
The timing of the verdict delivery, though merely a matter of
\ncoincidence, was also not conducive for the media to dig and
\npresent the background story of the case for the reading and
\nviewing public. But it provided a free advertisement for Akbar,
\nwho opened his stately residence in the housing complex of high-
\nranking government officials, an area normally highly restricted,
\neven to journalists.<\/p>\n
By any account, media reports on the trial were in favor of
\nAkbar, though the media, with all its limitations, tried its best
\nto balance its coverage by showing how policemen charged
\nthousands of protesting university students, gathered around the
\nSupreme Court, who demanded a guilty verdict on Akbar.<\/p>\n
The verdict and media coverage have confirmed the status of
\nAkbar as a great political communicator as symbolized by his
\nname, which literally means "great". But whether this victory
\nwill translate into voter support for Golkar in the April 5
\nlegislative elections or Akbar himself in the July 5 presidential
\nelection, remains a question.<\/p>\n
The writer is a visiting scholar at the Graduate School of
\nJournalism of the University of California, Berkeley.<\/p>",
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