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.