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Prabowo campaign calls US journalist's comments 'inappropriate', 'not credible'
Jakarta Globe - July 3, 2014
Nairn, a freelance journalist, has published comments from an off-the-record interview in 2001 with Prabowo, who at the time was nascent in his political career. Nairn, in a meeting with local media in Jakarta on Tuesday, claimed that Prabowo would serve the interests of the United States should he be elected president of Indonesia. He also wrote on his blog, of which Prabowo told him at the time, that Indonesia wasn't ready for democracy. Nairn covered Suharto during his New Order era, and he was witness to killings in East Timor in the early 1990s.
Nairn admitted that the one-on-one interview wasn't recorded, but he said he relied on his notes for Prabowo's comments. He said he felt compelled to release the contents of the discussion as the presidential election neared.
"Allan Nairn is a foreign journalist, a foreign correspondent who, from the time of the New Order, has always attempted to corner the Indonesian government," Maj. Gen. Sudrajat, a member of the Prabowo-Hatta campaign team, told the Jakarta Globe. He is also a spokesman for the Great Indonesia Movement Party (Gerindra), of which Prabowo is a founder and patron.
"Secondly, being a foreign correspondent, it is really inappropriate, really not credible, for a foreigner to interfere in the domestic affairs of Indonesia," Sudrajat said. "He is among those foreigners who always seek to pit Indonesians against each other. There is no evidence, or concrete facts, it is merely the ramblings of a foreigner who wants to discredit others."
Nairn's comments followed a statement by US Ambassador to Indonesia Robert O. Blake, who last month called for the Indonesian government to investigate Prabowo on allegations of human rights abuses. Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa, commenting on Blake's statement, has said "its timing and nature reflect a lapse of judgement that is difficult to accept."
Prabowo faces Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo in the July 9 presidential election. Joko has been the subject of smear campaigns, with a tabloid accusing him, a Muslim, of being a Christian of Chinese descent.
"We see that the Indonesian nation should be more alert and not be used by foreign elements," Sudrajat said. "They always seek the opportunity to discredit Indonesia, and this should be anticipated. I call on all Indonesians to be careful and not listen to the ramblings of foreigners about Indonesia and Indonesians."
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