The strategic role of Information Minister for Susilo's future 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.