Can we be optimistic?<\/p>\n
Finally, president Soeharto bowed to his people's demand and
\nresigned. This astonishing decision was unthinkable until the
\nbeginning of this week. Three days ago, despite the mounting
\npublic pressure for his resignation, the president was still
\ndoing his utmost to keep his position. He failed to realize that
\nIndonesians were weary of his maneuvering.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, he was forced to realize that he had lost his
\npeople and, at the eleventh hour, his Armed Forces, who had
\nstaunchly supported him in the past.<\/p>\n
By taking such a drastic step, Soeharto also seemed to
\nshrewdly sidestep the possibility of impeachment by the People's
\nConsultative Assembly (MPR), the country's highest constitutional
\nbody which elected him in March.<\/p>\n
Another face-saving tactic was to announce his resignation and
\nhave his successor sworn in at the Presidential Palace instead of
\nthe MPR, as tradition dictates. The law-making body's leadership
\nseemed hesitant to push the issue, as it was more pressing for
\nthe leader to finally step aside.<\/p>\n
The procedures of Soeharto's resignation and the appointment
\nof Bacharuddin Jusuf Habibie as the new president are
\nconstitutional in nature. The question now is will the new man in
\ncommand be able to implement the popular demand for total reform
\nin order to heal the country's ills. The answer seems to be
\nnegative.<\/p>\n
Habibie is a part of the old, entrenched system and is not far
\nfrom authoritarianism, cronyism, collusion and nepotism. Reports
\nhave said that he and his family own major conglomerates.
\nHabibie is not particularly popular among any segment of society.
\nDespite his inarguable intellect, he is well-known as intolerant
\nof ideas which differed from his own; until recently, he had
\nopenly opposed the public demand for complete reform, especially
\nthe convening of a special meeting of the MPR to discuss the
\nregime's record.<\/p>\n
For these very reasons, it is hard to believe he will be able
\nto realize what the people want. Tomorrow does not bode well for
\na better situation, as most signs point to more suffering of the
\npeople as the economy continues to deteriorate.<\/p>\n
The people, after three decades of the New Order's autocratic
\nrule, want to emerge from the darkness in which their all
\ninstitutions of democracy were emasculated and the economy was
\ncontrolled by a privileged elite. The situation worsened last
\nyear after Indonesia was stunned to find itself as one of the
\nworld's poorest nations despite the much-touted development
\n\"successes\" of recent years. They now live in untold misery --
\nits persistence will ring the death knell for the government.<\/p>\n
We understand that to be a nation anew is not easy. But the
\nfailure to carry through with change will only compound the
\npeople's frustrations, and cause them to vent their long-standing
\nfrustrations in even more savage ways.<\/p>\n
In facing the difficult road ahead, we should move to step up
\nsupervision by the people and maintain the student movement as an
\neffective correctional power for the nation's leaders.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/can-we-be-optimistic-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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