Tere, the Political Idealist

Political parties have been recruiting public figures especially artists to join them for many decades.

For example former Miss Indonesia Angelina Sondakh (Angie) and singer Theresia Pardede (Tere) who were recruited to join President SBY's Democrat Party, and elected as members of the House of Representatives for the term 2009-2014.

This kind of deal brings a win-win benefit for the artists and the political party. On the one hand, the artist got a chance to have a career as a states-person, therefore they can get lots of money. On the other hand the political party can expect to easily get more popular votes during elections.

The fact that politicians always been reluctant to release their public offices although the Police have named them as suspects in crime, have made me believe that those artists really enjoy their political status and would not want to release it.

           
But now I realized that my above assumption is wrong, that is after Tere (32) told the media last Friday that on 21 May 2012 she has resigned from the House of Representatives and the Democrat Party.

She was quoted as saying that she wants to take care of her father who is suffering heart illness. She is also very sad that Corruption still exist although political Reform (Reformasi) has been carried out 14 years ago.
And as a person who took part in the 1998 students demonstration to support Reformasi, she felt very sad that she cannot do anything to improve all that in her position as member of the House of Representatives.

I really respect Tere's decision to resign from political life, and hope that other artist-turned-politician would follow her path and give lesson to political parties i.e never forget that the main goal of Reformasi is to eliminate Corruption in Indonesia.

Photo : Courtesy of Tempo.

A Distrust Society

Almost every day we saw on television, heard on the radio, and read in the news paper about so many people getting easily angered and staged violence in public places, although only triggered by trivial matters.

They show their anger in many ways, such as the emergence of motorcycle gang after the murder of a Naval officer, clashes between member of the Army and the Police in Gorontalo, and an Army Captain acting arrogantly against a civilian in Jakarta.

Kompas wrote that aggressive behavior is a result of pressure due to various uncertainties in our country, ranging from Legal, Social, Politic, Economic, and even Religion.

Muji Sutrisno, a lecturer at the Dyarkara Philosophy School in Jakarta, was quoted as saying that today's society is losing a good role model. Figures or institutions that are expected to set an example and wisdom, it turns out most of them become part of the problem. It's hard to find someone who can be trusted.                    

He went on to say that such society can be called a Distrust Society i.e a Society that losses trust. If this goes on and on, our nation may loss Morality, Ethics and Wisdom.

Considering the above, I hope that all our politicians would always think and act as patrons for our society i.e. by upholding national unity based on our Constitutions, Laws, Pancasila and Traditions. And most of all, the laws must be enforced properly.

Nazaruddin is Not a Hero

One thing I like about today's celebration of Independence Day is that most of the mass media are not reporting about the Nazaruddin case for the time being.

This is good for me because I am beginning to be bored at the behaviors of politicians who tried to build public opinion as if Nazaruddin is a  hero and the law enforcement agency, especially the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) is evil.

While actually KPK has named Nazaruddin as Suspect in corruption cases including the misuse of fund for development of athlete building in Palembang, South Sumatera, who ran away to other countries, and was caught by the Interpol in Columbia. who later on hand him over to our law enforcement agencies.

First there was the lawyer OC Kaligis who was very angry because he failed to get asylum for Nazaruddin in Colombia therefore he should be returned to Indonesia. Besides, O.C Kaligis was also angry because he was not allowed to accompany Nazaruddin during the flight from Colombia to Jakarta.

I can understand why he is angry because as a lawyer he has been paid to do his very best to defend his client, but to advise him to take asylum in Colombia (and evade Indonesian laws) ?
However, I agree that Nazaruddin should be accompanied by a lawyer during the 38 hours flight.

Then there was the members of the House of Representatives who forcefully entered the Mobile Brigade Headquarters where Nazaruddin is detained.even though not during visiting hours.
Due his his status a member of the House of Representatives has not been revoked, other member may visit him, but should honor the regulation at the place of detention.

Then there was those politicians who demand that Nazaruddin should be protected by the Witness and Victim Protection Institution, which is unreasonable because Nazaruddin is neither a Witness nor a Victim, but a Suspect. 

Considering the above, I hope that KPK would always treat Nazaruddin according to the laws and regulations.

Papua Oh Papua

The Western part of the Island of Papua became a part of the Republic of Indonesia after the United Nations Temporary Executive Authority (UNTEA) transferred administration of the territory in 1963 (here).

In 1969 the territory became a legitimate part of the Republic of Indonesia, and became the province of West Irian, later changed to Irian Jaya in 1973.

With a total land area of 421,981 Km2, the province is the largest province in Indonesia, but it only has a population of 2,9 Million. The province has very rich natural resources a.o Gold and Copper mines, also natural oil and gas, however until now the income of the people is one of the lowest in Indonesia.

The said Copper and Gold mines are run by PT Freeport Indonesia, owned by the multinational company Freeport-McMoRan, since the late '60s are the largest in the world. 

These mining activities have cause continuous troubles with local people, and the mines' Tailing have severely impacted the natural environment.


Before May 1998, the authoritarian regime of the late former President Soeharto has managed to fully control the province, silenced it's people's protests, and eliminate separatist movement. by the Free Papua Movement (OPM).
 
After that year, liberal democracy came to Indonesia, and things started to change, people in the province expressed their protests on various matters such as demand fair share of PT Freeport's revenue, injustice, corruption, poverty etc.

In compliance with the demands of the people, 2002, the name of the province was changed to its original name i.e. Papua.

In 2003, the central government declared the western most of the province, around the Bird's Head peninsula, a separate province called West Papua. 

The people of both provinces of Papua has staged protests against the PT Freeport, including strike by its 8,000 workers following several shooting incidents that killed of some the workers.

On Monday 1 August, an internal conflict between two rival candidates of the Gerindra Party for the election of the Head of the Puncak Jaya Regency has caused the death of 21 people.

On Wednesday 3 August, an Army helicopter was shot down by the OPM. Tempo quoted the Army Chief of Staff General Pramono Edhie Wibowo as saying that the helicopter was shot while it was evacuating the body of a soldier who was shot to death the day before at Puncak Jaya. There were no more casualty and the helicopter was able to fly again.

I felt that the social unrest and violence that follow in the provinces of Papua and West Papua were sparked by the same causes like in other parts of Indonesia, i.e. Socio-Political-Economic-Judicial Injustice, Poverty, Corruptions, Greedy Politicians, etc.

I therefore hope that the central government, law enforcement agencies and politicians in Jakarta and in both provinces would do their very best to eliminate all those causes, or at least minimize them, so that their people would live far more happier

Politicians and Football

2010 has left us with many home works that must be carried out in 2011, i.e. the eradication of Corruption, Poverty and Injustice.

We have among others, the mysterious Bank Century bail-out, the shaky leadership of the Corruption Eradication Commission, and prosecution of Taxman Gayus Tambunan.

Besides, we also have the inter-religion relationship which is often shaky when it comes to rights of minorities.

On top of that, there are the maneuvers made by political parties to prepare for the general elections and presidential elections in 2014, whereby according to our Constitution President SBY must end his second office term.

Although there is still no official announcement, however major political parties have been giving signals to the public about who would be their Presidential candidates.

President SBY's Democrat Party has the First Lady Any Yudoyono. The Golkar Party has its Chairman Aburizal Bakrie. And the opposition Indonesian Democratic Party in Struggle has the daughter of former President Megawati, Puan Maharani.

Various efforts have been made by the politicians, the most notable were made by Bakrie who gave Three Billion Rupiah and land area of Twenty Five Hectares to our national team as bonus for their success in reaching the Final Rounds of the recent AFF-Suzuki Cup football tournament.

Further, the Chairman of the Indonesian Football Association (PSSI) Nurdin Halid, a member of Golkar Party, has publicly announced that his decision to lower the ticket price for the tournament from Seventy Five Thousand Rupiah to Fifty Thousand Rupiah was made based on the request of Bakrie as his Party's boss.

In response to Golkar Party's above moves, and growing public demands for Nurdin Halid's resignation from PSSI, Arifin Panigoro, member of the Reform Democratic Party who supported President SBY, has initiated the creation of the independent Indonesian Premier League (LPI). 

Nurdin Halid and PSSI have declared that LPI is illegal and requested the Police to stop its activities.

I felt that the above situation is very ugly and not healthy for the development of football in Indonesia which is now showing some improvements. Therefore in order to make football develop well, I strongly believe that PSSI should be managed by people who are free from any political background.

Image :  Courtesy of Mises.

Anas Urbaningrum, a new Hope for Indonesia

Yesterday evening, the congress of the ruling Democrat Party (PD) has elected Anas Urbaningrum (40), currently the chief of the party's faction in the House of Representative (DPR) as Chairman of the party.

This is a big surprise considering that the two other candidates have better advantages i.e. Marzuki Alie (54) is the the Speaker of the DPR, and Andi Malarangeng (47) is the Minister of State for Youth and Sports  supported by the son of President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono (SBY) i.e. Eddy Baskoro.

Moreover, Anas did not use the mass media for campaign, while his rivals, especially Andi Malarangeng, have used them very intensively.

Brief information about Anas ::
Anas was born in Blitar, East Java, 15 January 1969. He studied Political science at the Airlangga University, Surabaya-East Java, and Gajah Mada University (Post graduate) in Jogyakarta, active in student movements as Chairman of the Islamic Students Association (HMI) from 1997 to 1999. Married with four children. He was a member of the General Election Commission from 2001 until 2005, afterward he join the party's leadership and became member of DPR in 2009.

Considering that PD is the party of President SBY, therefore leads the coalition government, and has the largest number of seats in the DPR,  the victory of Anas is not only important for his party but also for Indonesia that badly needs fresh young leaders to replace old politicians who are currently running the country.

Stiffer Election Rules for Celebrities

Celebrities have very good chances to win the hearts of people who vote during elections, because they     are  more popular than many politicians. 

That is the reason why efforts have been made to impose a stiffer election rules that would limit the numbers of celebrities who can be nominated in elections, as reported by The Jakarta Globe.

In my opinion, celebrities who do not violate the laws and regulations are eligible to elect and and be elected during elections. And politicians who felt that they are less popular than celebrities should improve their own quality so as to be able to compete with celebrities.

April 17, 2010

Camelia Pasandaran & Cameron Bates

Julia Perez on the cover of her album, Kamasutra. 

Indonesian Political Hopefuls to Face Stiffer Poll Rules

In what is already shaping up to be a highly controversial initiative, the Ministry of Home Affairs wants to further tighten eligibility criteria for political candidates in a move seen as aimed at preventing celebrities from running for office.

Under the 2004 Regional Governance Law, a candidate must meet 16 requirements to stand for election, including having a high school diploma, never having been to prison for a crime punishable by more than five years in jail and being at least 30 years old.

“The law requires regional heads to have good moral standards,” Home Affairs Minister Gamawan Fauzi said on Friday. “For example, if they are proven to have committed adultery, they will be banned from contesting an election. I heard that in the past a person who featured in a sex video later ran in a regional election. It should not be that way.”

Now, with a number of racy celebrities — including actress Julia Perez — throwing their hats into the ring for this year’s 224 regional and municipal elections while admitting to having little political experience, the government is taking further steps.

“We’re going to add another requirement for candidates to have enough experience in government or in civil organizations,” Gamawan said.

“This is to prevent people who know nothing about how to lead a region suddenly becoming district head just because of popularity. We should pity the millions of people whose fate is put in jeopardy.”

Julia, known for her sexy persona and bikini photos, created an immediate stir when she said she was hoping to be the next district head of Pacitan in East Java.

Pacitan is the hometown of President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, known for his conservative views on public conduct.

Julia, better known by her nickname Jupe, has said she has much to learn about politics but is willing to learn.

But Gamawan denied suggestions the new requirement had been triggered by celebrities announcing their desire to contest this year’s polls.

“It’s not only for artists, but also other popular people who have no experience,” he said. “To be a regional head, a person must have legal responsibility, political responsibility and moral responsibility to advance the region and lead the people toward prosperity. If a candidate is running on a platform of popularity alone, that’s not appropriate.”

The new requirement will be added to revisions of the 2004 law being drafted by the government. It is likely to be submitted to the House of Representatives by June.

Julia lashed out on Friday at what she said was a government attempt to prevent her from contesting the election.

“It’s directed at me,” she told the Jakarta Globe. “People have the right to become politicians. This is supposed to be a democracy. If the government is saying this is a new rule then clearly this is not right.”

Julia said that she had the backing of eight parties at the district level, including the People’s Conscience Party (Hanura), the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra) and the National Awakening Party (PKB) and was “100 percent serious” about contesting the election.

She said she had formed a campaign team and would visit Pacitan on April 25.

Facebook and Politicians in Pekalongan

The goal of every politicians is to get power, for which purpose they would do anything to beat their rivals in the election.

That's what I thought when the news media reported about photos in Facebook depicting intimate postures of 2 top officials of the Regency of Pekalongan, Central Java, i.e the Regent Siti Qomariyah (pic-left), and her Deputy Wahyudi Ponco Nugroho (pic-right).

The reason why I felt that way because when both politicians were campaigning for their present offices in the 2006 regional election, similar photos appeared on the internet. Somehow. those photos do not seem have effect on the people who voted for both of them.

And now that both politicians will end their office terms next year and the news media have reported that will run again as candidates in the 2011 regional election, such photos appeared again.

Regarding the photos, the self proclaimed telematic expert Roy Suryo have said that the 2006 photos were originally taken using mobile phone camera.

Meanwhile, the Vice Regent of Pekalongan only said that he never own a Facebook account but refused to answer when journalists asked him about the originality of the photos.

For detailed media reports, please click here, here and here.

All I can say about the story is : very interesting!