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)