Habibie's tasks<\/p>\n
I found Lance Castles's article \"Will new govt heed Anderson's
\nplea?\" on March 15, 1999, to be strange in many ways. For example,
\nhe says that it is as certain as anything in human affairs that
\nthe next government will be a coalition led by Megawati and Amien
\nRais, but he gives no evidence for this.<\/p>\n
Mr. Castles also believes that opinion polls prove that Amien
\nrather than Megawati, will lead the coalition. This is also
\nstrange because in general, polls prove nothing. In Indonesia,
\nmany people live in remote rural areas on remote islands, polling
\norganizations have little data with which to construct a reliable
\nsample. It will be an amazing feat if any polling organization
\ngives an accurate forecast of the vote for even a few of the 48
\npolitical parties.<\/p>\n
It is also strange that he criticizes a Yogyakarta newspaper
\nfor the headline Golkar declaration attended by paid masses. It
\nis well known that the Functional Group (Golkar) pays people to
\nattend its rallies and that it distributes gifts to potential
\nvoters. This style of campaigning obviously suits Golkar as it is
\nby far the richest party thanks to funds built up under Soeharto.
\nBut it will corrupt and destroy democracy and up to now, measures
\ntaken by the government to prevent it are inadequate. So any
\nnewspaper which spotlights the issue of vote buying (whether in a
\nheadline or a cartoon) is doing a great public service.<\/p>\n
Perhaps strangest of all is the assertion that \"it is
\ndifficult to put one's finger on anything that Habibie has
\nactually done wrong.\" Does this mean that Habibie has not done
\nanything wrong or, that he has done so many things wrong that it
\nis hard to put one's finger on them?<\/p>\n
It is Habibie's task to ensure the supply of basic foodstuffs
\nto the poor. In this he has had some success, but it has been
\nmarred by corruption. It is not surprising that there is
\ncorruption at low levels because top-level attempts to eradicate
\nand punish corruption have been derisory and this is Habibie's
\nresponsibility.<\/p>\n
It was also Habibie's task to lay a foundation for economic
\nrecovery, essentially by following an IMF prescription, and in
\nthis he has had some success. But he delayed the recent bank
\nclosure announcement. Thus a process that was supposed to be
\ntransparent and reassuring became murky and perturbing.<\/p>\n
It was also Habibie's task to prepare fair and free elections
\nto elect a government with democratic legitimacy, and he has had
\nsome success. But he has also volunteered himself for election
\nand this has had many negative consequences. Tension has been
\nhigher than necessary because of suspicion among the government's
\nopponents that Habibie and Golkar will conspire to rig the
\nelection in their favor. This suspicion is entirely justified,
\nbased on two decades of experience and on recent events,
\nincluding the tragic charade of last November's Special Session
\nof the People's Consultative Assembly and the current vote
\nbuying.<\/p>\n
Worse, Habibie may be elected. Even if Golkar wins only 25
\npercent of votes, the election system, its close relationship
\nwith the Armed Forces and its control over appointed Assembly
\ndelegates give it a good chance of rustling up the 376 votes
\nnecessary to put Habibie back in power. If this happens,
\ndemocracy will have been travestied and Indonesia will be stuck
\nwith a government that has no more democratic credibility than
\nthe present one.<\/p>\n
JOHN HARGREAVES<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/habibies-tasks-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }