A questionable show

A questionable show

President B.J. Habibie has been surprisingly generous to the
foreign media. If it were only so with the local news media as
well.

Habibie's recent statement to The New York Times saying that
he had a better feel for the younger generation than his
predecessor, Soeharto, sounds a little ironic. The fact that the
new President has stood aloof from the local media and has yet to
talk face-to-face with ordinary Indonesians -- much less, the
students whose reform ideas he had rejected until the eleventh
hour of Soeharto's rule -- is no secret.

What Habibie should understand is that his pretentious show,
illustrated in a recent exclusive interview with the Cable News
Network, does little to inspire respect from the people.

Since his appointment as the country's third head of state on
May 21, Habibie seems to have been confused as to where to put
the local media and the people within his format. What we have
seen is that he prefers to have his ministers or anybody who
comes to pay him a courtesy call to act as his spokesperson. Such
visitors include, among others, reform advocate Amien Rais, House
Speaker Harmoko and leaders of religious groups.

This communication style looks rather odd in this age of
modern mass communications. The President may be copying the
style of his predecessor -- Soeharto never held regular media
conferences during his 32 years in power -- though Habibie
certainly has a better capability to talk to the foreign media.

Having watched Habibie's peculiar style since taking the
presidency, this newspaper has tried to advise him to modernize
his approach. Should he be too busy to talk to the public
directly, he could hold a news conference, for example. If he had
no time for a conference, he could grant interviews with a
limited a number of local editors.

A Habibie watcher said recently that since starting his new
job, the scientist we once knew had changed: The President had
now started to read newspapers, a thing he was reluctant to do
before. Upon hearing this, many now believe that this significant
change might lead to something else positive: the ability to
listen to other people.

We, too, believed that Habibie's reluctance to listen to
others may have become a thing of the past until we heard an
account signaling otherwise from the leaders of the Catholic
Bishops Conference. At a news conference following their meeting
with the President on Monday, the bishops' spokesman said that
during the meeting the bishops hardly had time to elaborate on
many of their comments because "the President dominated much of
the conversation".

The President's manners are lamentable because put together
with his other incomprehensible styles it is not hard for us to
envisage that he will lead this nation to a standstill in this
fast changing world.

It is noteworthy that Habibie's style can be portrayed in the
awkward selection of his "reform" cabinet, in which many of the
members represent stubborn antireform elements of the old
administration, and in his refusal to say bluntly that his
government is transitional in nature. This all shows that he is
not in the least sensitive to the people's aspirations. Perhaps,
it is the characteristic of a leader who has both feet firmly
planted in the air.

Viewing the fact that Habibie was a steadfast part of the
Soeharto administration, that there are so many legal experts
still questioning the legality of his appointment, that students
are still demanding his immediate departure and that he may well
be prompted to lead a national effort to regain any money
Soeharto and his cronies may have illegally accrued during the
New Order regime, we just cannot understand why Habibie continues
with his insipid and weak management.

We are afraid that his refusal to change his tune might
inspire his ministers to follow his example, which would lead to
a rejection of openness and a return to the old tradition of
fabricated truths.