Election fever, improper focus<\/p>\n
Vice President Hamzah Haz has declared that if he goes on the
\ncampaign trail for the 2004 general elections, he will do this
\nnot in his capacity as the vice president of the country, but as
\ngeneral chairman of the United Development Party (PPP). For that
\npurpose he plans to take leave of his vice presidential duties
\nand will not make use of whatever facilities he has been accorded
\nby the state.<\/p>\n
But even such a friendly promise has provoked unexpected
\nreactions of disapproval. Most commentators still consider Hamzah
\nHaz's attitude as being incompatible with his official position
\nas vice president of the country. He should instead first
\nrelinquish his post and then be allowed to assume the presidency
\nof his party if he wishes to take part in the campaign.<\/p>\n
The law on general elections does not provide for highly
\nplaced politicians like Hamzah Haz to take leave from their state
\nduties in order to be able to go on campaigning for a party.<\/p>\n
The matter has now become a controversial one, which
\nhas occupied the minds of most politicians and political
\ncommentators in recent weeks. However, what the general public is
\nmost annoyed about, is the fact that the politicians are already
\nthinking and speaking of the general elections which will not
\ntake place until 2004 instead of focusing their attention on more
\nurgent matters like the secessionist movements in several
\nprovinces demanding more self determination over their income.<\/p>\n
Now the public is waiting for the government to announce
\nfurther reduction of official rates and tariffs after the rupiah
\nrate against the U.S. dollar has been showing stability with a
\nstrengthening trend prevailing (about Rp 9,000 per dollar). Now
\nthat President Megawati is on another foreign trip -- to some
\nEuropean countries, the public is grumbling about the diminishing
\nattention on the part of the government to the plight of the
\npoorer sections of the population.<\/p>\n
The people are demanding that the government should only
\ntackle critical issues like the demand for better payments of
\nworkers according to the standard provisions in each region and
\nmore essentially to reduce the number of unemployed people of
\nabout 40 million in total.<\/p>\n
GANDHI SUKARDI<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/election-fever-improper-focus-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }