No Bull: Yudhoyono's Four-Legged Nemesis Banned

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Thursday, 04 February 2010 08:23

Jakarta, VOI News - An unsuspecting water buffalo has been thrust yet again into the political spotlight after the Jakarta Police on Wednesday resolved to ban his appearance, and that of any other animal, in protests. The move came a day after President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono claimed that demonstrators were implying that he, like the water buffalo, was “big, lazy and stupid.” “Who will guarantee the safety of both the demonstrators and passersby if, somehow, the water buffalo decided to run into the crowd?” Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Boy Rafli Amar said, adding that city police were banning the use of animals in protests as a public safety measure.

“What happens if suddenly the animal experiences stress from all the noise and the crowds?” he said. Media reports on the water buffalo’s story have likened it to the classic Walt Disney children’s tale of Ferdinand, a bull who ended up facing Spain’s fiercest matador in a bull ring in Madrid, when all Ferdinand wanted to do was take care of his flowers. Ferdinand became famous for sitting in the middle of the bull ring and failing to take heed of any of the provocations of the matador.

On Wednesday, the same buffalo that offended the president when it appeared at a rally on Jan. 28 protesting the first 100 days of Yudhoyono’s second term in office, was scheduled to make a return to the Hotel Indonesia traffic circle in Central Jakarta.

However police stopped the truck transporting the animal — named “Si Lebay,” slang for a person who overacts — from Bekasi and said the water buffalo, which had a photo of Yudhoyono on its back, was not allowed to join the rally because it would disturb public order.

Presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasha said Yudhoyono’s message on the “buffalo issue” was being taken out of context and misinterpreted. “As the symbol of the nation, the president should not be treated that way,” he said.

Julian said the International community would take note of the fact that Indonesians were failing to give proper respect to the nation’s head of state. “Outside the nation, people really respect President Yudhoyono, and consider him a successful president,” he said. “On Thursday, he is going to accept an award that proves that he has been successful in carrying out the tasks of the government.”

However, Julian declined to give further details about the award. Senior members of Yudhoyono’s Democratic Party also defended their boss. Marzuki Alie, the speaker of the House of Representatives and a senior Democrat, said any demonstration aimed at expressing public aspirations, instead of mocking public figures, should follow certain rules.

“If an aspiration is expressed immorally and incorrectly it will hurt US people from the East,” Marzuki said. Anas Urbaningrum, a top executive and chairman of the Democratic faction in the House, said that “unethical” demonstrations had the potential to become a “democratic disease” and would give birth to political hatred.

“Without ethics, a rally will turn into nothing other than a Forum to show hatred. It is a reflection of immaturity,” he said. Lawmaker Fachri Hamzah, of the Prosperous Justice Party (PKS), a member of the ruling coalition, said that democracy was equal to political noise and urged the president not to panic over insubstantial issues. “A leader should think about things before speaking to the media. Even Pak Harto, who did not live in a democracy, knew that,” he said, referring to former President Suharto. jg

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