Miles of wrong priorities<\/p>\n
Bantarto Bandoro, Editor, 'The Indonesian Quarterly', Centre
\nfor Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), bandoro@csis.or.id<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri's first year in power has
\nwitnessed nearly 100,000 miles in foreign trips. So far her
\nglobetrotting has not helped our recovery. Now, Megawati has
\nadded another 10,000 or so miles to her travel log. The latest
\nincluded her visit to Johannesburg to attend the World Summit on
\nSustainable Development, from where she continued to Algeria. Now
\nshe is in Hungary, and will continue to Bosnia, Croatia and
\nEgypt.<\/p>\n
This trip takes place amid some acute domestic problems,
\nparticularly the migrant workers deported from Malaysia. The
\nPresident has hardly issued any meaningful statement on the
\nissue. The country still faces security problems, the latest
\npotential problem being an attack by gunmen in Papua on two buses
\ncarrying foreign and local employees of PT Freeport Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Megawati's foreign trip to Africa and Eastern Europe would
\ngain public support if it offered clear and concrete benefits to
\nour development process. For the president, showing what is
\nperceived to be a sense of a leadership of the most influential
\ncountry in the region is greater than a sense of crisis; meaning
\na lack of priorities. Domestic problems are sacrificed for the
\nsake of letting the world know that Indonesia still exists.<\/p>\n
Apart from public concerns as to what policies will emerge
\nnext year in regards to our recovery, there are still concerns
\nthat Megawati's government is unwilling to follow the spirit of
\nreform that the country now needs. Instead, her government seems
\nto prefer incremental, insignificant steps.<\/p>\n
In a defensive mode, a legislator from Megawati's party, the
\nIndonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, Tjahjo Kumolo, stated
\nthat critics against the President's trip were part of an attempt
\nto uncover her alleged wrong-doings. He was quoted as saying that
\nthe current East European and African trips were meant to promote
\nIndonesia's global interest through multilateral forums.<\/p>\n
Tjahjo seems to overlook that fact that the public has, from
\nthe outset, detected Megawati's inability to understand national
\nissues, the economy in particular, and that her past record
\nprovided very little indication that she had the vision and
\nstrategy to carry out the reform agenda.<\/p>\n
Therefore, present criticism against the President should not
\nbe seen in isolation from the previous criticism raised
\nimmediately after she replaced Abdurrahman Wahid.<\/p>\n
Tjahjo's argument is not supported by the logic behind the
\nneed to develop better and more stable external relations and
\nmultilateral diplomacy. If foreign policy is an extension of
\ndomestic policy, then attempts to strengthen and promote
\ninternational diplomacy will not achieve its objectives unless
\nfully supported by a highly stable domestic condition.<\/p>\n
This newspaper reported that she spent some Rp 22 billion of
\nthe public's money for her various trips in her first year, not
\nincluding the current one, which included an entourage of 111
\npeople. Perhaps the money would be better spent to reduce the
\nburden of the expelled workers or to handle forest fires in
\nKalimantan and Sumatra.<\/p>\n
The presidential trip also takes place at a time when
\nIndonesia is again in the spotlight as among the world's most
\ncorrupt countries. This means the public cannot trust officials
\nin eradicating corruption. They might see corruption as something
\nthat reflects the wealth or privilege of officials, resulted
\namong other things from such overseas journeys. Unless concrete
\nsteps are taken such as reducing such trips and thus giving more
\npriority to the settlement of domestic problems, such a view will
\nbe reinforced.<\/p>\n
Megawati once stated that "we have to be realistic in that
\nthere is no instant and quick solution for the complex problems
\nwe are facing now". This is among the classic arguments put
\nforward by our leaders when criticized for slow response to
\ncrucial issues. Her trip is also considered by many to be
\nunrealistic regarding efforts to resolve all our problems.<\/p>\n
Addressing the Johannesburg summit, Megawati said world
\nleaders must take concrete steps in eradicating poverty. Even if
\ncitizens here listen to this statement, the image here is of a
\ncorrupt state which clearly is a failure in terms of poverty
\nreduction.<\/p>\n
Megawati's statement reflects her apparent unawareness of the
\nfact that her government has yet to become a strong government
\nthat can provide long-range planning necessary for rational
\ngrowth patterns. Thus she can only appeal to world leaders to
\nwipe out poverty while implicitly covering the fact that
\nIndonesia is still poor, meaning that it does not have the real
\ncapacity to generate adequate savings. Her statement would only
\nhave had some weight if there were some consistency in measures
\nof fighting poverty at home.<\/p>\n
The 2004 general election is still two years away. But the
\nissue of which political parties will survive and win have
\nalready become hot topics. The election will take place at a
\ntime when we will still be facing a domestic crisis, perhaps even
\nmore severe if the current government fails to initiate a fresh
\napproach to our real problems. Whoever will be president, he or
\nshe must not be detached from national problems.<\/p>\n
The question now is will the first few months of our next
\ngovernment witness another 100,000 miles of foreign trips,
\nignoring sensitivities at home?<\/p>",
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