A question of relevance<\/p>\n
Now, there's an interesting question in your June 20
\neditorial: Is Golkar still relevant, given its past blemished
\nrecord? Taking relevance in its broadest sense -- i.e. having a
\nbearing on, or being pertinent to, the present situation -- it is
\ndifficult to see how Golkar could be, well, irrelevant. Until the
\nparty disbands, it remains relevant. But over the past two
\nmonths, gallons of ink have been spent and airwaves kept rocking
\nwith the thunder of calls for a session of the House of
\nRepresentatives\/People's Consultative Assembly (DPR\/MPR), be it
\nplenary, extraordinary or both. So with Golkar as the ruling
\nparty still, let's look at a few things and see whether it is
\nrelevant or, better still, should be made irrelevant. First,
\nSoeharto (still Golkar's generalissimo), during his final moments
\nas head of state, sidelined DPR\/MPR by appointing the vice
\npresident as president. Note also that if a session is held, he
\nwould be entitled to be present at it. Second, whole blocks of
\ngroups as well as individual members, like so many rats leaving a
\nsinking ship, have left both bodies. This means, of course, that
\nthey have recanted on the oath they took last year to represent
\nthe people. Suppose a session does take place, would the
\nMusyawarah Kekeluargaan Gotong Royong (MKGR), which has turned
\nits back on Golkar, the party it joined and through which it
\ngained seats, still be legally entitled to take part? Third, even
\nthe speaker of both the MPR and the DPR, Harmoko, has said that
\nhe'd be willing to step down provided it goes through
\nconstitutional procedures. And fourth, one of the vice
\nchairpersons of Golkar's central executive committee is Mrs. Siti
\nHardijanti Rukmana whose name needs no further elaboration.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is a country that since its independence has had
\nnothing but a top-down system of authority, a system that
\ntrivializes the most important component without which there is
\nno raison d'etre for any nation: the people.<\/p>\n
This renders the existence of institutions such as a
\nrepresentative assembly, even a constitution, totally
\nunnecessary. Of course, the reform movement endeavors to change
\nall this, but for the moment this top-down condition remains
\nunchanged. Hence one must expect that one day, sooner or later,
\nthere will again be a bunch of people garbed in yellow, green and
\nred jackets parading about in the legislature. The only
\nsuggestion I would venture is that they keep those jackets
\ntightly buttoned if only to reduce the stench of decay in the
\nchambers.<\/p>\n
GUS KAIRUPAN<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/a-question-of-relevance-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }