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