The War of Opinion in Indonesian Politics

THE WAR OF OPINION IN INDONESIAN POLITICS

At last the incumbent President Susilo Bambang Yudoyono made up his mind. He decided to choose the Governor of Bank Indonesia (central bank) Budiono as his running mate. Soon many people sharply criticized his decision. The renowned economist Kwik Kian Gie, the former minister in the Megawati era, told the press that Budiono is a ‘neo liberalist’ economist. Another economist from the prestigious IndonesiaUniversity, Faisal Basri said that he is not sure that Budiono is a neo liberalist economist. Meanwhile the Presidential spokesman Andi Mallarengeng said that the critics do not really understand about the meaning of the terms. What is neo liberalism ? Why people criticized him ?

Actually whatever it means is unimportant. What matter most is something behind it. I am sure the current political events is the root of the criticism. Let’s look at these events. After the legislature election in April, 2009 parties compete for presidential election in July 2009. Latest polls indicate that President SBY and his Partai Demokrat is on top. Since the next term will be the second and the last for SBY, the position of vice president is of great value. This will be the best position to reach the next presidency. That’s why they want to be his running mate. They aim the position of vice president. The opportunity looked greater as Vice President Jusuf Kalla decided to run for president. It means that President SBY needs a new running mate. But when SBY decided to run with Budiono those party leaders are very disappointed.

The accusations means black campaign for SBY. His rivals try to give a negative impression about him. If they succeed in imposing this negative image, they expect that SBY’s supporters will move to their side. This step is taken perhaps based on an assumption that SBY’s supporters are mainly swing voters. They support SBY just because they are impressed by his good manner. He is polite, neat and the public appreciate this. It means that most of them are just emotional voters. Those who vote based on their emotion. If they like someone, then they will vote for him. If they do not like someone, they won’t vote for him. Although the number is great, this kind of voters are unstable. They depend on their mood. So now parties compete to win their heart.

Up to now the debate over neo liberalism is still going on in Indonesia. More and more people accuse Budiono as neo liberal. On the other hand Megawati and her running mate Prabowo claimed that they have pro-poor policy. It is clear that Megawati try to win people’s heart by defining herself as defender of poor people. Meanwhile Jusuf Kalla claimed that he is faster and better than other candidates. He tries to give impression that President SBY is someone who is always hesitates, who is unable to make decision quickly. He defines himself as a quick decision maker. SBY tries to give a positive impression to public that he is a successful leader.

The war of opinion is going on in Indonesia. Every candidate try to picture himself as perfect and his / her rival as defect. Victory of this war is very important since the swing voters in Indonesian politics is in great number. Although SBY is on top today, his supporters are just swing voters. So his fate will depend on his ability to give positive impression to public. If his rivals can give negative impression about him, then his supporters will decrease.