Megawati prioritizes political stability, govt efficiency<\/p>\n
Bambang Kesowo, the former deputy Cabinet secretary under
\nsecond president Soeharto, served as the secretary to vice
\npresident Megawati Soekarnoputri, and, as of Wednesday, is the
\ntemporary official spokesman for the President. He shared with
\nThe Jakarta Post the priorities of the new government.<\/p>\n
Question: You might be the most powerful bureaucrat on
\nPresident Megawati Soekarnoputri's team. How would you describe
\nyour position?<\/p>\n
Answer: Well, I'm sorry to say that we have to start
\neverything almost from the very beginning. But if Ibu asks me to
\nassist her in whatever capacity is needed, I'll do my best to
\nhelp her.<\/p>\n
What will be the President's priority?<\/p>\n
Everybody knows that (the presidency) will be very hard.
\nExpectations are running high and problems must be resolved in a
\nvery short time, in two and a half years.<\/p>\n
What will be her top agenda in politics?<\/p>\n
Anybody who has to carry out the obligations (as the current
\npresident of Indonesia) would first do something like stabilize
\nthe political situation, and seek ways of stabilizing relations
\nbetween the executive and legislative branches. Secondly, they
\nwould look at how to improve efficiency within the government
\norganization.<\/p>\n
Only if these two prerequisites can be filled despite the very
\nshort time (available), will the government be more prepared when
\nconfronted with the threat of disintegration.<\/p>\n
It is okay for people to express their aspirations, but
\nwithout repeatedly calling for independence. It is urgent to
\ntackle (the disintegration threat). Then the issue is how to
\nprovide a better foundation and better direction about what kind
\nof reforms we want to address.<\/p>\n
Up to now, nobody here has been against reforms. But the scope
\nof reforms must be very clear, such as how we should schedule the
\ndemands. There has been an assumption that everybody is free to
\ndo whatever he or she wants. That's not good for our development
\nof democracy (and) human rights, we need to make our rules very
\nclear.<\/p>\n
How about Megawati's priority in the economy?<\/p>\n
We're thinking about how to stabilize the rupiah's exchange
\nrate. It is not good to have a wildly fluctuating rupiah. Then we
\nneed to seriously face our banking sector, otherwise the real
\nsector will not be able to resume normalcy. In addition to the
\ninterest rate and lending rate, it is very important to talk to
\nthe central bank on how to manage the rate, simply to give
\nactivities a chance to operate economically.<\/p>\n
Regarding development, we will start questioning even
\nourselves on whether we are on the right track, and learn from
\nwhat has happened in the past about our weakness in the economic
\nfoundation, and so on. The development strategy has continued for
\nsome 30 years, but because of the crisis, everything is now
\nbreaking down. And since we want to start again we must learn why
\nour situation is like what it is now. What are our real problems,
\nwhat is wrong with our strategy?<\/p>\n
In law enforcement, we remain committed to continuing tackling
\ncorruption. Certainly we will structure things.<\/p>\n
On foreign affairs?<\/p>\n
In the short term, we want to regain the trust of the
\ninternational community, the integrity of the country and the
\ngovernment.<\/p>\n
How about security, is it the most urgent issue for the
\npeople?<\/p>\n
To my understanding, a very serious concern of the President's
\nis how to improve the performance of law enforcers; how to bring
\nabout peace and security. The President has summoned National
\nPolice chief Gen. Soerojo Bimantoro and Jakarta Police chief
\nInsp. Gen. Sofjan Yacoeb to instruct them to take all necessary
\nactions to stop this "bombing terrorism".<\/p>\n
She has also ordered serious steps in the hunt for
\n(businessman and Soeharto's son Hutomo Mandala Putra) Tommy,
\nsimply because his case has been decided by the court, and (the
\nverdict) needs to be upheld.<\/p>\n
Your return to the center of power is regarded as the symbol
\nof the revival of the bureaucracy, which was sidelined under the
\nprevious administration.<\/p>\n
This feeling among the public might be right. But I believe
\nthat there is not one single state or government which can
\nsurvive without two important sources of support: first, from law
\nenforcers and second from the bureaucracy. Any ideas to make the
\ngovernment more effective, regardless of whether they are liked
\nor disliked, must involve the bureaucracy. How to get the
\nadministration running is the only concern of the bureaucrats.<\/p>\n
What will be the President's target in her first 100 days?<\/p>\n
It is not our custom to have such a target, that's a
\nconvention of other countries. But what is certain is how to
\nrealize the above prerequisites to stabilize relations between
\nthe executive and legislative branches. Criticism is okay, but
\nthe issue is how can we create a situation where the spirit of
\nkilling each other is no longer present.<\/p>\n
Then in the very short run, and this is my personal opinion,
\n(the target would be) how to make the working mechanism within
\nthe government effective, while it remains in order and is
\ntransparent.<\/p>\n
Many complain about the President's tendency to be quiet and
\nher avoidance of public statements.<\/p>\n
Well, that is Ibu's character. Is there a requirement that a
\npresident should be outspoken, and that every two hours she or he
\nhas to speak up? (What's important is that) the flow of
\ninformation, the decision-making and the flow of decisions taken
\nby the President can be channeled properly and quickly to
\nimplementing agencies, to ministers or government bodies. It's
\nnot necessary that every time the President makes a decision she
\nmust come and speak directly to the media. (Kornelius Purba).<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/megawati-prioritizes-political-stability-govt-efficiency-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}