•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   
•    EYEWITNESS   

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono denounced as defamation on Monday a text message leveling scandalous accusations against him and other Democratic Party members, but observers said he would have done better to have simply ignored it.

Yudhoyono said hundreds of libelous statements had been made about him since he became president in 2004, but this one, supposedly from fired Democrat treasurer Muhammad Nazaruddin, had crossed the line.

Over the weekend, a text message claiming to be from Nazaruddin was sent to journalists and editors. It accused key members of the ruling party, including Yudhoyono, Anas Urbaningrum, Andi Mallarangeng and presidential staffer Daniel Sparingga, of involvement in undisclosed scandals and graft.

“All this time, I have remained silent. I just kept on working. But once it gets this outrageous, for the sake of my good name, the truth and for the sake of justice, I need to explain to the public,” the president said at Halim Perdana Kusuma Air Force base before he left for Pontianak. “The libel was outrageous and demeaning.”

He called the mysterious sender “irresponsible” and a “coward.”
The message accused the president of being involved in “inappropriate” conduct, raised the issue of the Bank Century scandal and claimed that the Democrats had secret funds worth Rp 47 trillion ($5.5 billion).

“I ask these people not to spread such poison,” Yudhoyono said. “Let us come face-to-face, for the sake of the truth. The libelous statements are 1,000 percent false.”

He further said the statements were detrimental to the well-being of the state. “I urge all Indonesians not to allow this country to be flooded with an ocean of slanderous lies,” he said.

He also urged the mass media not to disseminate such news.

Political analysts, however, said Yudhoyono had only made the situation worse for himself.

Ibramsyah, from the University of Indonesia, said the president had only given the allegations legitimacy by acknowledging them.

“Yudhoyono should have ignored it, as it was just a slanderous text message with no clear sender,” he said. “People would have known it was a hoax so there was no need to worry about it.”

In fact, he said, Yudhoyono’s emotional rebuttal of the allegations had been counterproductive and only showed weakness. “He should be thinking more about the people’s welfare and the judicial mafia,” he said.

Yunarto Widjaja, from Charta Politika, also said the president had made a mistake by commenting on the message.

“This is a blunder for Yudhoyono. In my opinion, this could actually amplify the issue,” he said. “People will think this is an important thing.”

The National Police, meanwhile, said a special team would trace the origins of the message. Nazaruddin has denied he was behind the claims.