Consistent law enforcement<\/p>\n
It was interesting to hear President Megawati's speech during
\nthe ceremony to open the Indragiri bridge in Riau province last
\nweekend.<\/p>\n
She showed her concern about illegal logging, which has
\nhaunted the country for decades. She even said that she knew
\nexactly the \"smuggling line of command\" that the illegal loggers
\nused in the central government (The Jakarta Post, March 15).<\/p>\n
Such a statement should not have come from the President when
\nshe said that eradicating illegal logging simply required the
\nwill of law enforcers and other state officials. Law enforces, as
\nwe know, consist of the police, prosecutors and judges.<\/p>\n
Other related state officials guarding state borders, through
\nwhich illegal timber passes, consist of security officers and
\nimmigration officials. The security officers, as has been known
\nfor years, together with the police, are among those who profit
\nfrom this illegal business.<\/p>\n
As the country's armed forces commander, if Megawati really
\nwanted to enforce the law, and if she really knows the line of
\ncommand for illegal logging and smuggling, the President should
\ncommand both the armed forces chief and the National Police chief
\nto cope with this disastrous problem.<\/p>\n
If they were unable to do so in a given period of time, she
\ncould replace them and find other officers more capable to do the
\njob. It is not difficult to find two good generals among the
\nhundreds of Army and police officers in the country.<\/p>\n
The President should uphold the best know message of her
\nfather, the late president Sukarno, who said in the late 1950s:
\n\"Enforce the law even if the sky collapses.\"<\/p>\n
If she had remembered her father's message in the first place,
\nthese problems and other crises crippling the country for the
\nlast five years or so would have been handled from the start of
\nher term in August 2001.<\/p>\n
And by doing so, her reelection in the direct presidential
\nelection in July 2004 would have been virtually guaranteed.<\/p>\n
M. RUSDI
\nJakarta<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/consistent-law-enforcement-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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