Information minister vital for Susilo's success

Information minister vital for Susilo's success

Muhammad Qodari, Jakarta

One of President Megawati Soekarnoputri's mistakes when she
succeeded Abdurrahman Wahid in 2001 was the appointment of
Syamsul Mu'arif of the Golkar Party as her information minister.
It was a mistake because she gave such an important ministerial
post to a rival political party. Megawati should have given the
post to one of her confidants.

The reason why Megawati appointed Syamsul as information
minister was partly due to the power-sharing process she had to
carry out following the impeachment of Abdurrahman from the
presidency and her inauguration as the new president.

As the second-largest political party at the time, Golkar's
contribution to the ascension of Megawati to power was
substantial. It is not clear whether Syamsul was qualified to
become the information minister but as one of Golkar's high-
ranking officials he surely was entitled to represent his party
in the Cabinet.

The other reason why Megawati did not appoint someone from her
circle is the failure to understand the strategic role of an
information minister to support the future role of a president.
Megawati should have learned a lot from former president
Soeharto.

Although Soeharto was elected by all members of the People's
Consultative Assembly, he was fully aware that he needed support
and legitimacy from the people. Such support and legitimacy could
only be gained if the people felt his government had made
"development progress". Under Soeharto the information minister
had the duty to communicate the substance of this progress.

Soeharto's longest-serving and most famous information
minister was Harmoko, a journalist-turned-politician. It seems
Harmoko was one of Soeharto's favorite ministers because he was
re-appointed again and again. Other names for other ministerial
posts came and went, but not Harmoko, who stayed at his post.
Soeharto must have liked him very much or thought he was
extremely successful because only BJ Habibie -- minister of
technology, later appointed vice-president and Soeharto's
successor -- could command as much support.

Many people do not like what Harmoko did as information
minister. Considering how he manufactured information and how he
controlled the press, he was more a minister of propaganda than a
communications minister. State-owned national radio and TV
broadcasters at the time aired a series of programs featuring
government success stories but never its failures. The privately
owned media was tightly regulated so it could not publish
negative information about the government or the first family.
Any media which violated these regulations would be banned as in
the case of Tempo magazine in 1994.

The country does not need a president like Soeharto or an
information minister like Harmoko again, but it is important to
appreciate the strategic role an information minister plays in a
presidency.

The president needs to inform the people about what the
government has done to improve their lives. They need to know the
government's achievements to properly participate in the
development process.

The role of information minister is also vital to the success
of an incumbent president who aspires to run for office a second
time. Based on findings from national election surveys conducted
by the Indonesian Survey Institute (LSI), the most important
reason why Megawati lost to Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono was not her
performance as the president. A little more than 50 percent of
voters agreed with the way she ran the government and the way she
handled various problems, except for the problem of corruption.

Meanwhile, a large majority of voters thought Susilo's
personal characteristics were better for a leader than
Megawati's. However, if a higher percentage -- say 80 percent --
of voters had agreed with the way Megawati had handled central
problems such as the economy, she could have improved her
standing against Susilo in the presidential race.

Most economists have admitted economic indicators have
improved under Megawati. The question is -- has this message of
improvement been transmitted to the people by the government and
the information minister in particular?

It is important for anyone becoming president in a democratic
system to realize that people are keeping an eye on what the
government is doing. If they think the government is doing the
right thing by them, then they will acknowledge it even when they
have not yet felt the impact of the policies.

It is needless to say their support for a government will
increase once they feel their quality of life is improving
because of government programs. And the case of Megawati should
teach Susilo it is not enough to get half of the population to
agree with the way he handles problems. He needs as many people
as possible to agree with him to be considered a successful
president.

As the president-elect, Susilo has all the authority to set up
the information ministry the way he wants. He should give his
information ministry a wider authority and bigger budget than it
had under Megawati. While it must not be as powerful as it was
during the Soeharto era, it needs to become an effective, formal
"public relations agency" for the government. It also needs
strengthening because the ministry was earlier dissolved by
Abdurrahman when he rose to power in 1999.

Susilo must recruit from his inner circle to fill the post of
information minister. The candidate must be someone he trusts
completely. He or she could be a professional or a high-ranking
official from his party -- the Democratic Party. It is dangerous
to appoint a candidate from rival party even for the sake of
coalition building as that party will become a competitor in the
next election. It has the final aim of making the president and
ruling government look bad in the eyes of voters.

Finally, the candidate must have had a proven track record in
understanding and dealing with the media. He or she must be
familiar with journalists and the networks of media owners. The
ability to speak eloquently in front of the public is
indispensable as the minister will have to brief the press on the
many issues the government has to deal with. A presentable
candidate with a good voice would be a major advantage in this
era of television.

The writer is the director of research at the Indonesian
Survey Institute in Jakarta. This opinion is personal one.