RI leaders lazy, weak, not serious: Nurcholish Madjid<\/p>\n
Bernie K. Moestafa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
How do we explain the sight last Wednesday of the Indonesian
\ndelegation shopping in one of Rome's most expensive arcades while
\nattending a world summit on hunger?<\/p>\n
Bad timing maybe, but a note by prominent Muslim scholar
\nNurcholish Madjid that Indonesians were not serious about running
\nthe state, could be nearer to the truth.<\/p>\n
Speaking at a seminar on the nation's leadership and morality
\non Thursday, Nurcholish took issue with the way Indonesians are
\nrunning their nation.<\/p>\n
\"There is this moral lenience which is weakening our nation,\"
\nNurcholish told participants at the seminar held by the
\nIndonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI).<\/p>\n
Once dubbed one of the Southeast Asian little dragons,
\nIndonesia fell from grace when the 1997 economic crisis struck
\nthe region.<\/p>\n
While other nations recovered, Indonesia was left battered
\nthanks to sweeping political and social changes that followed the
\ncrisis.<\/p>\n
Over the past five years three different governments have had
\nto cope with an ailing economy, widespread security problems and
\nflagrant corruption.<\/p>\n
Progress in any of these areas has been slow at best, and
\nanalysts have heaped the blame on the notion that Indonesia was
\nundergoing a period of transition.<\/p>\n
But Nurcholish said the problem was more endemic, marked by
\nthe nation's lousy work ethic.<\/p>\n
\"This is a nation that isn't serious about running the state.
\nIndonesians want to take it easy, they don't care about working
\nhard.\"<\/p>\n
Consequently, he said, the country had been administered by
\npeople who indulged themselves in pleasures they did not yet
\ndeserve.<\/p>\n
His statement came as some began to question President
\nMegawati Soekarnoputri's frequent overseas trips.<\/p>\n
Megawati is on a two-week tour of Europe, which comes after
\nshe visited Asian countries in April. The President attended the
\nopening ceremony of the United Nations world summit in Rome on
\nglobal hunger, with other stops including the Vatican, the United
\nKingdom, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.<\/p>\n
In her absence, fresh violence hit conflict-torn Aceh and a
\nbomb exploded in Jakarta for the first time under her government.<\/p>\n
Megawati's predecessor Abdurrahman Wahid was, despite his
\nimpaired vision and fragile health, another frequent traveler.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere, legislators have shown a disappointing lack of
\ndiscipline by maintaining their poor attendance record at
\nsittings despite persistent public criticism.<\/p>\n
\"Indonesia is a soft state. Here the difference between right
\nand wrong isn't clear,\" Nurcholish explained.<\/p>\n
The question of right or wrong, he said, was more dependent on
\nwhich interest it served rather than on morality.<\/p>\n
Putting morality on the backseat in favor of vested interests
\nwas further evidence that the nation is being run by short-
\nsighted people, he added.<\/p>\n
Rector of the Jakarta-based State Islamic University Azyumardi
\nAzra also noted the lack of discipline within the country's
\nleadership.<\/p>\n
\"What indicates this lack of morality is widespread
\ncorruption, collusion and nepotism (KKN),\" he told The Jakarta
\nPost by telephone.<\/p>\n
Azyumardi attributed this to the absence of strong political
\nwill and a civil society to push for a change.<\/p>\n
Despite attempts toward good governance, he said, by the end
\nit was vested interests that dominated political decisions. The
\n2004 general election also meant that political interests would
\ncontinue to interfere.<\/p>\n
He said that improving the country's political system might
\nreduce such vested interests, but awareness should come from
\nindividuals within the government. \"However, don't expect the
\ngovernment to change by itself, there must be pressure\".<\/p>\n
He added that public apathy over their own rights slowed
\nattempts to generate pressure. To end this malaise, public
\neducation is the answer, he said.<\/p>",
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