House accepts KONI's effort at SEA Games
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Despite Indonesia's failure at the recently concluded Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur, the House of Representatives (DPR) fell short on Tuesday of showing discontent with the way Indonesian athletes performed.
Instead, the House said it "appreciates all efforts by the National Sports Council (KONI) and understands the disappointment by the Indonesian sporting contingent" and called for a rebound in the future.
The compliment was given to KONI by House members of commission VI in their hearing on Tuesday, which saw an abrupt change of opinion on the part of the legislators.
"Commission VI shares the disappointment and bitterness over the country's showing in Kuala Lumpur SEA Games. But such an outcome could be justifiably understood given the unlucky conditions," said Anwar Arifin of the Golkar faction, reading from a draft statement during the closing stages of the meeting.
However, Mochtar Adams of Reform faction and Ronggo Wasito of the Indonesian Military/National Police voiced their objection to the use of the words "disappointment" and "bitterness" and wanted them removed.
After minor argument, Anwar and the other members acquiesced.
Wismoyo led the visiting group that also comprised leaders or representatives of the 29 sports organizations, while Commission VI, which oversees religion, education, tourism, culture and sports, was represented by 15 of its 42 members.
The Kuala Lumpur Games, which featured athletes from the region's 10 nations, ran from Sept. 8 to 17, and saw Indonesia finish third in the medal tally behind Malaysia and Thailand for the second straight time.
Tuesday's meeting provided an opportunity for KONI to make an official and public statement of accountability, with Wismoyo himself conceding responsibility for the country's poor showing.
"For all these unpleasing results, as the chairman of KONI, who is responsible for the development of sports in the country, I apologize to the people and nation through the DPR, particularly Commission VI.
"Let's take something positive from the 'downbeat mood' and pick up the pace in preparation for the Pusan 2002 Asian Games and the Hanoi 2003 SEA Games," Wismoyo, a former Army chief of staff, said.
Some House members called on KONI to pinpoint its defects and gave their views on how to improve national sports development in the future, particularly in competitions at the regional, continental and global level, while others showed themselves to be critical of KONI's policies.
"Funding problems are just a "classical" issue. If funding is always considered to be the biggest obstacle, the question is, supposing the (unfavorable) conditions remain in place, then will Indonesian sports stay in the doldrums?" Syahrul Matondang, of the Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI Perjuangan) faction, said.
His fellow faction member Sambas Suryadi also urged some soul- searching on the part of Wismoyo given the fact that during his tenure Indonesia had failed three times in four appearances.
"We are the biggest nation in South East Asia and the nation with the fourth biggest population in the world. But we are only third in the SEA Games," said Syahrul.
In his response, Wismoyo said he had no intention of running for a third successive term.
However, KONI received support from Ronggo Wasito, also from PDI Perjuangan.
He refuted the idea that the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games represented a failure by the Indonesian team. "It's only a little way off success," he said responding to the previous opinion raised by Sambas Suryadi, from the PDI Perjuangan faction.