Kwik not quick enough<\/p>\n
Slow though President Abdurrahman Wahid's movements are, due
\nto his physical restraints, his limited eyesight (view), he
\ndemands others, in particular members of his Cabinet's economic
\nteam, to produce quick results.<\/p>\n
Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Finance and Industry
\nKwik Kian Gie has been spared from accusations of corruption,
\ncollusion and nepotism, unlike his two colleagues from the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle and Golkar Party,
\nLaksamana Sukardi and Jusuf Kalla, respectively.<\/p>\n
With the sliding of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar, if it
\ncan be used as a yardstick, the Cabinet's program of economic
\nrecovery is not progressing quickly enough. It appears even to be
\nstagnant, with the delay of the International Monetary Fund's
\npledged assistance of US$400 billion for another month and the
\nstate budget still to be approved by the legislature, with many
\nalterations.<\/p>\n
But President Abdurrahman, who is known to be a genius in the
\nrealm of the immaterial (spiritual) affairs of his religion who
\nrefuses to give up things easily, believes he has the answer to
\ninject more blood into the ailing economy's veins. He has
\nappointed a pair of \"fresh\" assistant supervisors to Kwik, and
\nwith himself already joining the economic team, nothing can go
\nwrong now.<\/p>\n
The pace of economic recovery will now be picking up. The
\nstate of the economy is after all decided by how close your
\ncontacts are with world leaders (by often visiting them
\npersonally) and with the Almighty (by praying often for the
\nwelfare of your country and members of your family).<\/p>\n
An economy, indeed, is a strange thing; it can jump too high
\n(overheat); it can collapse suddenly (crisis); it can also move
\nfast (inflation). In the case of Indonesia, with Kwik in charge,
\nAbdurrahman thinks the economy is not moving quickly enough. The
\nlegislators, a few ministers, the media and the general public
\nare not sure whether the additional staff, ordered to
\n\"supervise\", will not be burdensome or annoying to the minister,
\nwho does not need to be spied on. Had Kwik needed more staff he
\nwould have indicated this long ago and would have chosen his own
\nassistants. He is a coordinating minister, isn't he?<\/p>\n
Now that he has been honored with an academic title from a
\nThai university, surely Abdurrahman cannot afford to make
\nmisjudgements any more, or level accusations against his
\nministers without proof. It is a pity that he still has to rely
\non whispers.<\/p>\n
GANDHI SUKARDI<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/kwik-not-quick-enough-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }