Indonesia's path to reform<\/p>\n
As Indonesian President Abdurrahman Wahid prepares to fly into
\nHong Kong today (Sunday) to address a meeting of the Asia
\nSociety, it seems timely to remind him that the international
\ncommunity is losing patience with the slow pace of reform in his
\nshattered nation.<\/p>\n
The legal system is widely perceived as rotten, corruption is
\nsaid to be deeply ingrained, and racial divisions are seemingly
\nunbridgeable. With the return of Asian economic growth so far
\nbypassing Indonesia and leaving it with the most fragile of
\nrecoveries, it has become clear that investors are waiting for
\nmore concrete signs of change from Jakarta before committing
\nfunds.<\/p>\n
Mr. Wahid has not only included Hong Kong on his busy
\ninternational itinerary in an attempt to woo private capital, he
\nalso wants to reassure Chinese investors who fled amid the
\nviolence of 1998 that their return will be welcomed. But it will
\ntake more than the charm and smiles, for which the President is
\nfamous, to repair the damage.<\/p>\n
He will need to convince his audience that he is making
\nheadway in building a consensus in his badly-divided cabinet. One
\nsign Mr. Wahid should tout of his ability to focus the council of
\nministers was his decision last week to castigate them, cancel
\nall overseas travel and call a weekend meeting to deal with
\nInternational Monetary Fund demands, which they had been in
\ndanger of not being able to meet. Within days a taskforce had
\nbeen set up to restructure the nation's private sector debt
\nvalued at more than U.S.$60 billion so meeting a key IMF
\nrequirement in order for it to continue pumping massive amounts
\nof international aid.<\/p>\n
The huge rifts in Indonesian society also need to be repaired.
\nThe fight for separatism in the northern province of Aceh,
\nMuslim-Christian violence in the eastern Maluku Islands, and the
\nflight abroad of Indonesian Chinese are just a few of the ethnic
\nand religious divides that Mr. Wahid should bridge in order to
\nattract international aid and capital.<\/p>\n
Even though Mr. Wahid is fond of diplomacy, he might like to
\nbegin restricting his international forays so that he can spend
\nmore time on the problems at home and communicate more
\neffectively with his electorate rather than issue edicts from
\nabroad. It would be a tragedy if Indonesia's first democratically
\nelected leader, widely considered to be a man of vision, failed
\nto put his nation on the road to reform.<\/p>\n
-- The South China Sunday Morning, Hong Kong<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesias-path-to-reform-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }