‘역대 최대 내각’ 인도네시아 프라보워 새 정부, ‘언론인 출신’ 중용

*아시아엔 해외필진 기고문의 한글번역본과 원문을 함께 게재합니다.

[아시아엔=엘리샤 에비노라 인도네시아 디에디터 편집장] 지난 10월 20일 인도네시아 대통령으로 공식 취임한 프라보워 수비안토 대통령은 장관 48명, 차관 59명, 대통령 비서실장, 대통령 소통실장, 검찰총장 등 100인이 넘는 고위직을 임명하며 인도네시아 역대 가장 큰 규모의 내각을 꾸렸다. 그 중 언론인 출신이 7명에 이른다. 정보통신부 장차관, 중소기업부 장관, 인구 및 가족정책부 차관, 관광부 차관, 재무부 차관 등이 그들이다. 

프라보워 수비안토 대통령은 그간 언론에 부정적인 입장을 취해온 것으로 알려져 있었다. 그러나 이번 인도네시아 정부의 새 내각을 살펴보면 실상은 약간 다른 듯하다. 프라보워의 반 언론 이미지는 어디서 기인한 것일까?

인도네시아 유력매체 ‘콤파스’에 따르면 프라보워는 2019년 5월 1일 자카르타에서 열린 노동절 기념행사에서 “언론인은 조심해야 한다. 우리는 그들의 발자취를 기록하고 있다”며 언론이 국민의 목소리에 귀를 기울여야 한다고 강조했다.

그는 “인도네시아의 국부가 증발되는 동안 숱한 의혹들이 있었고 국민은 억압받았다”며 “이 자리를 감히 찾아준 언론인 여러분에 경의를 표한다. 인도네시아 역사는 언론이 민주주의를 파괴했다는 사실을 기록할 것”이라고 비꼬기도 했다. 프라보워가 야당 대통령 후보였던 시절 이러한 일화가 재조명되면서 그가 언론에 적대적이라는 이미지가 형성된 것이다.

그러나 프라보워는 올해 다시금 대선에 도전하며 그간의 입장을 바꾼 듯 보인다.

그는 지난 1월 초 자카르타에서 열린 한 언론 단체 행사에서 “나는 20년간 인도네시아 민주주의 발전에 헌신해 왔다”며 “언론 자유와 견제, 균형은 권력을 통제하기 위해 존재한다”고 밝혔다.

프라보워는 자신을 향한 일부 언론의 비판이 가혹했다는 사실을 언급하면서도 정부를 견제하는 언론의 역할을 인정했다. “언론의 역동적인 자유는 때론 선을 넘어 상대방을 화나게 만들기도 하지만 언론은 우리나라에 문제가 있다는 것을 지적했을 뿐이다.”

Indonesia: Media, politics meet in Prabowo Subianto’s government
by Elitha Evinora

Indonesia is entering a new era of leadership as a new government and a new cabinet have filled the Istana Negara (State Palace) where the president works and conducts his daily activities.

Sentiments towards the government of Subianto since he was declared winner of the 2024 General Election have generated interesting topics for discussions, locally and internationally.

This level of expectation is due mainly to the fact that the outgoing president Joko Widodo, who has coloured Indonesia’s leadership for the past 10 years, has held ample places in people’s hearts, even though there were acts of protest at times.

Prabowo, however, came in with a reputation that he is anti-media that does not seem to reflect reality.

Prabowo has appointed the largest government in recent history with more than 100 members: 48 ministers, 59 deputy ministers and five other high-ranking, minister-level officers: attorney-general, head of intelligence unit, head of presidential staff, head of presidential communication office and Cabinet secretary.

In the Red and White Cabinet formed announced on October 20, seven members with press backgrounds were chosen to hold ministerial positions. They include Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid, Minister of Cooperatives Budi Arie Setiadi, Deputy Minister of Population and Family Development Isyana Bagoes Oka, Deputy Minister of Tourism Ni Luh Enik Ermawati, Deputy Minister of Communications and Digital Nazar Patria, and Deputy Minister of Finance Thomas Djiwandono.

Prabowo’s Anti-Media reputation is attributed to an old report that shows Prabowo Subianto warning the media to “be careful” that resurfaced when he was still the presidential candidate number two.

He conveyed the warning as he was giving a speech at the 2019 Labour Day commemoration in Central Jakarta, according to Kompas.com.

“Media people, be careful, we are taking notes on your behavior,” Prabowo said, which was immediately greeted by the laborers,” he allegedly said.

“We are not goats that you can force to do this and that. Be careful. Be careful, the voice of the people is the voice of God.”

Prabowo talked about how there have been many lies, cheating in the country while Indonesia’s wealth has been taken. The oppression of the people, he said, needs to end.

He claimed that the media contributes to the destruction of democracy.

“For the media, I salute you for still daring to come here. It will go down in history. Hey, media, you helped damage democracy in Indonesia,” he said.

On the other side, Joko Widodo, who served as the seventh president of Indonesia from 2014 to 2024 and the first president to not emerge from the country’s political or military elite, is known to have been in good terms with the press in Indonesia. Throughout his tenure, he was known to be a “media darling”, even though there was only one minister with a press background, Budi Arie Setiadi, the Minister of Communication and Information.

In a speech during an Indonesian Journalists Association (PWI) event, then vice presidential candidate Prabowo said that no one should doubt his commitment to democracy as he has been an active participant of the democratic system in the past two decades, Jakarta Post reported on January 5, 2024.

In a speech recently, Prabowo also praised the role of the press as a counterweight to government policies.

“Press freedom, checks and balances, they are there to control those in power,” he said.

Prabowo admitted that some of criticism from the press was harsh to him, but stressed it was very necessary to keep the government accountable.

“A dynamic freedom of the press, which sometimes goes too far and makes us angry when we read it, is to control us (the government), to tell us that something is wrong with our country,” Prabowo said.