Jakarta : Enraged by protesters likening him to a "big and stupid" water buffalo, Indonesia's president has ordered the beasts banned at street rallies, a decision some Indonesians said shows their leader can't handle criticism.
The ban, issued on Wednesday by Jakarta police, applies to all animals and follows a rally last week in which protesters — who accused President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono of failing to fight rampant corruption — tried to parade a water buffalo with Yudhoyono's name spray-painted on it through the city's main traffic circle.
Unethical
Police removed the creature from the rally, which was one of a slew of protests held across the nation to mark the first 100 days of the president's second term.
Yudhoyono was not exactly thrilled with the comparison, calling it unethical.
"They said that I am like a buffalo — big and stupid and slow in moving," he told reporters Tuesday in the West Java town of Cipanas. "That statement is not ethical or moral, and to use a buffalo can violate other regulations, like traffic laws."
Yudhoyono has been the longest-ruling democratic leader since the end of Indonesia's dictatorship in 1998. But his spokesman, who acknowledged the president ordered police to ban the animals, denied the new buffalo ban was undemocratic.
People are still free to protest, he said — provided it's done with common courtesy.
"In the present day, we have a total liberalism and total [freedom to] express your opinion," spokesman Julian Pasha said yesterday. But "so many people think that they do and they say anything without any consequences, without any responsibilities. I think there's something wrong with the perception of democracy today in this country."
Desmond Mahesa, a lawmaker from the opposition party Gerindra, called the ban an overreaction and said it proved the president is a weak leader.
