Gus Dur names Wimar presidential spokesman

Gus Dur names Wimar presidential spokesman

JAKARTA (JP): President Abdurrahman Wahid named on Monday prominent talk-show host and commentator Wimar Witoelar as his presidential spokesman.

Speaking to reporters after attending the swearing-in ceremony of new Army Chief of Staff Gen. Endriartono Sutarto at the State Palace, Wimar said that he would be leading a team of four people.

Later in the day, Wimar made it clear that the team was "not going to have the President speaks less or with less passion".

"In principle what I will try to do as a spokesperson is to be complementary to the president rather than acting as a substitute," Wimar told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview.

"He will continue to do what he does but we will complement that, we will add to that by providing perspective, providing background and context for his statements which sometimes create misunderstandings," he added.

Abdurrahman is notorious for his controversial statements.

Wimar said, however, that his team would not be "concentrating on routine statements for which there are existing officers" but would be "providing colorful commentary and paraphrasing".

"So the plan actually depends on the ability to interact more with the press," he said.

Wimar was best known as host for talk show Perspektif on SCTV in the mid 1990s. The show was highly critical of the government and it was eventually banned in September 1995.

Abdurrahman, when he was still the leader of Nahdlatul Ulama Muslim organization, was among dozens of government critics who had appeared on the show.

Wimar, born in 1945, was a student activist during his years at the prestigious Bandung Institute of Technology. He dropped out in 1970 and went to study in the United States.

He returned home after getting his MBA from George Washington University in 1975. He is now the chairman of the PT InterMatrix Bina Indonesia Management Consultant company. (byg)