Pundits question Golkar use of celebrities
SEMARANG (JP): No candidate for the House of Representatives has provoked more controversy than the "king" of dangdut music, Rhoma Irama.
Rhoma has deserted the Moslem-oriented United Development Party (PPP) and joined the ruling Golkar, which has put him at the top of its list of Jakarta candidates.
Observers said here Saturday that they recognize Rhoma's right to join Golkar, but doubt he will criticize the government the way he did as a PPP member.
They argue that Rhoma, who infuses his songs with Islamic teachings of morality, will have a hard time defending common people as a representative of Golkar.
"He is not likely to sing his well-known hit which rightly implies that 'the poor are getting poorer and the rich getting richer,'" said intellectual Emha Ainun Nadjib.
When campaigning for the PPP in 1977 and 1982, Rhoma won huge support for his scathing criticism of the government's failure to address the problems of social injustice and corruption within the system.
Golkar will contest with the PPP and the Indonesian Democratic Party for 425 seats in the House next year.
Apart from Rhoma, Golkar has also recruited soap opera star Rano Karno, Javanese shadow puppet master Ki Anom Suroto and former badminton hero Icuk Sugiarto, in the hope that they will attract more votes in the 1997 election.
Reports have quoted Rhoma as saying that is prepared to devote himself to Golkar.
Says Emha, "I do hope that Rhoma's performance as a House member will be better than many observers expect. I hope he will defend the poor as he is supposed to."
Emha has refused the PPP's offer to become a candidate but promised to help the PPP campaign to achieve its target of 96 seats in the House.
The head of the PPP's Central Java chapter, Djuhad, is skeptical of Golkar's celebrity tactic.
"Rhoma's inclusion on Golkar's list of vote getters will have no impact on the PPP," he told The Jakarta Post.
Djuhad predicts that Rhoma's commitment to Golkar will mostly boost his musical career because he will no longer be prohibited from appearing on state-run TVRI. Rhoma has been banned from TVRI since the early 1980s for his critical government stance.
"If he campaigns for the PPP, the ban will never be lifted for obvious reasons," he said.
The recruitment of celebrities shows that the quality of democracy in Indonesia is still low, he said.
Atja Soewangsa, a Golkar member of Central Java's provincial legislative council, said that Rhoma and Rano Karno should help Golkar improve its performance.
"Their mass communication skills are beyond doubt," he said.
Susilo Utomo, a political observer from Diponegoro University, added his hope that Rhoma will not lose his critical view of widespread socioeconomic disparities. (har/pan)