JAKARTA, KOMPAS.com – A noted sociologist from Syarif Hidayatullah Islamic State University has defended Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam’s political stance on the country’s mass media, which were so critical to President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono.
“The political stance and steps that Dipo Alam has taken so far must be respected and appreciated as we also respect those, who criticize and disagree with the president’s leadership,” Dr.Musni Umar said here Friday.
In democracy, disagreement and different political stances were acceptable. In Islam, different opinions were also acceptable, he said. Therefore why should Dipo Alam’s recent threat to certain media that were so critical to the government be bitterly reacted? he asked.
Umar argued that there were at least three reasons for understanding the discourse of media versus Dipo Alam. The first argument was related to difference of interests.
“This is so natural in real politics because an everlasting friend is only interest,” he said.
The second argument was related to the disturbance of interests. In this context, becoming an opposition within a governance in a country brought a consequence, he said. Those in power would defend themselves from any movement and criticism if they felt disturbed. One of the actions that they might take was boycotting their opponents’ interests.
This was what Dipo Alam had done, he said. The third argument was related to a culture of not easily accepting criticism. Print and electronic media belonged to the capital owners but they were run by journalists.
Those behind the mass media were not “angels”. Therefore they could be right or wrong. Due to the fact that both parties (government and media) had their own interests, they could be united but could also be disunited, he said.
By considering this argument, there was nothing wrong with Dipo Alam’s political stance regarding his remarks on the media, he said. However, Dipo Alam’s remarks had sparked pros and cons in the society.
For Golkar Party Chairman Aburizal Bakrie, it was not appropriate to threaten the mass media in Indonesia’s democratic and openness era. “It (threatening media) is most inappropriate,” he said.
Instead, it might have only been a “slip of his tongue”, he said adding that threatening the print and electronic media that were critical to the government was not appropriate in this democratic era. In connection with this controversial remark, the Press Council had summoned Dipo Alam.
Source: kompas.com
