Muhammadiyah chairman urges SBY to clarify allegations

Muhammadiyah chairman Din Syamsudin said that President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono must provide clarification for articles reporting his alleged power abuse which were published on Friday.

Muhammadiyah is Indonesias second largest Muslim organization.

Australian dailies The Age and the Sydney Morning Herald published articles, based on diplomatic cables from Wikileaks, on Yudhoyono’s alleged power abuse which caused a political uproar.

The president must speak up. It’s not enough [to speak] through his spokesmen or aides because we know that the president has even spoken on small problems, he said on Saturday.

He dismissed the possibility of foreign intervention to topple the Indonesian government through the news.

Foreign institutions have the freedom to publish data and facts, which the Indonesian government must counter through facts too, he added.

If the president remains quiet by not providing clarification or filing a law suit, this incident can repeat itself. And it will give an impression that what the foreign party has alleged is true, he said.

Source: the jakarta post