House accepts KONI's effort at SEA Games

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.