Reporters in anti-Bambang protest

Reporters in anti-Bambang protest

JAKARTA: More than 80 journalists from various media signed a
petition against State Secretary/Cabinet Secretary Bambang Kesowo
on Wednesday, protesting his increasingly standoffish behavior in
dealing with them.

Last week, when asked for confirmation by reporters on whether
he had received the name of the candidate proposed by President
Megawati Soekarnoputri for the position of TNI chief, Bambang
merely blew a raspberry at reporters and walked away.

Bambang has also become notorious for fobbing off journalists
when approached, as well as making rude signs -- instead of
making a recorded statement -- when asked a question he does not
wish to answer.

"Any public official has the right to refuse to reply to a
reporter's question, but being rude about it is what's
unacceptable," one journalist said.

Unlike in the days when he served as secretary to then Vice
President Megawati Soekarnoputri, Bambang nowadays blatantly
displays a dislike of journalists. --JP