Mega deflects suggestion of govt poor performance<\/p>\n
Fabiola Desy Unidjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri on Saturday deflected any
\npossible suggestion of her government's poor performance,
\ninsisting that the current economic crisis was a vestige of long
\naccumulated problems.<\/p>\n
Presenting her response to questions on her progress report,
\nMegawati told the Annual Session of People's Consultative
\nAssembly that the government is trying to find \"realistic\"
\nsolutions to the current economic situation.<\/p>\n
\"The difficulties in dealing with the weakening financial
\nsituation is because the problems had been accumulating since the
\nbeginning of the economic crisis,\" Megawati said in her prepared
\nspeech.<\/p>\n
\"In the last 100-days the government has settled certain
\neconomic disputes realistically, problems that had been delayed
\nfor months,\" she remarked.<\/p>\n
Megawati cited the signing of the Letter of Intent with the
\nInternational Monetary Fund, the resolution of the Overseas
\nPrivate Investment Cooperation (OPIC) and preparations for the
\nConsultative Group on Indonesia (CGI) as realistic achievements.<\/p>\n
The economic performance of the government drew widespread
\nreaction from the country's highest legislative body after
\nMegawati presented her progress report on Thursday.<\/p>\n
While the tone among Assembly factions to the current problems
\nfaced by the government was understanding, especially in the wake
\nof catastrophic global events, they also urged the government to
\nset clear priorities to pursue.<\/p>\n
But Megawati on Saturday maintained that her economic team was
\ndoing the best it could, and due to the complexity of issues at
\nhand it could not be resolved in such a short time.<\/p>\n
\"I am not trying to offer pessimism. I'm only providing the
\ntrue picture of our condition, which is far from rhetoric,\" she
\nasserted.<\/p>\n
\"I just hope we can be realistic in determining the
\npriorities, and find the solutions for these problems together.\"<\/p>\n
\"There are no shortcuts in dealing with the current situation
\nthat we have to face,\" Megawati added.<\/p>\n
In what may have been a mild jab at Assembly members who had
\nnot read her report, the president also answered many of their
\nquestions by simply stating that the information was readily
\navailable in the addendum submitted with the progress report on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
\"answers to most of the questions could actually be found in
\nthe separate explanation. I understand the time limitation for
\nlegislators to look into the separate data that I provided,\" she
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Megawati further underscored her commitment in fighting
\ncorruption, pledging to step up efforts in settling many major
\ncorruption cases and continue the discussions of regulations to
\ncurb such practices.<\/p>\n
At the end of her speech, she said that she is ready and open
\nto criticism.<\/p>\n
\"The government has determined the priorities, and set forth
\noperational steps to cope with these problems. We are open to
\ncriticism and will always respond to suggestions from the
\nlegislature,\" Megawati said.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mega-deflects-suggestion-of-govt-poor-performance-1447893297",
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