Bagito regrets president-bashing
Bagito regrets president-bashing
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian entertainers may start to limit their
recent habits of mocking the country's number one person as they
rampantly used to do during the tenure of former president B.J.
Habibie.
Nadhlatul Ulama (NU) leader Noer Iskandar told three members
of the noted comedy group Bagito on Sunday to exercise self-
control following their slanderous impostoring of President
Abdurrahman Wahid during a regular entertainment program
broadcast live by the private TV station Indosiar on Saturday
night.
"As NU members, Bagito should be more careful in performing
their shows," Iskandar said during a meeting with the trio of
comedians at the NU office in Central Jakarta. He suggested that
the group move on with their career.
He said Abdurrahman, who chairs the 30 million-strong NU, knew
about the show and had forgiven the comedians, who comprise
Zainal Abidin (Didin), Hadi Prabowo (Unang), and Dedy Gumelar
(Miing).
Abdurrahman, better known as Gus Dur, was still in Bali on
Sunday.
Iskandar also called on all NU members to stay cool.
The trio of comedians announced their apology not long after
the show.
"We apologize to KH Abdurrahman Wahid and all Indonesian
citizens about our impropriety in mimicking the president's
physical condition," Indosiar manager Jilal Mardhani said on
behalf of the comedians in a televised apology a few hours after
the show.
The comedians said such a slanderous performance should not
happen again.
"Merdeka Palace did not complain about it, but we received a
flurry of protests from people, including NU members," Miing
said.
Chairman of NU Jakarta's chapter, Abdul Wahid Aziz Bisri, and
coordinator of NU militia group Banser, Abdul Haris Sumby, joined
the comedy group in the apology.
"I know for sure that the president was not angry about this,
but mocking the physical condition of our national leader is
outrageously inappropriate," Bisri said directly to the
comedians.
Sumby said that NU members were upset by the incident but they
would exercise their restraint because the President had forgiven
and forgotten the incident.
Indosiar director Sutomo Sutardjo repeatedly announced his
apology to the audience minutes after the scene, but a flurry of
telephone calls condemning the show kept coming in.
Mocking the President and former president has become a
favorite entertainment for the public since the fall of former
president Soeharto last year.
The Attorney General Office banned a monologue VCD by noted
impersonator Butet Kertaredjasa entitled "King of the Jungle
Turned Custodian" (Raja Rimba Jadi Pawang) in August. In many of
his performances, Butet impersonated both Soeharto and Habibie,
but he has never been admonished or questioned by the police.
(04)