Undercurrents issue<\/p>\n
(INI YANG DIPAKAI)<\/p>\n
"Undercurrents" is an important new term in our political
\nvocabulary.<\/p>\n
It all started when the central government -- known as the
\n"uppercurrents" -- imposed policies to be implemented by the
\nprovincial and regional governments. The policies happened to be
\ncontrary to the people's aspirations -- the undercurrents.<\/p>\n
Take for example the cases of the Extraordinary Congress of
\nthe Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI), the election of the
\ngovernor of the Central Kalimantan province, and some elections
\nof regents throughout Indonesia. All the candidates who were
\napproved by the central authority were rejected by the people of
\nthe regions.<\/p>\n
In a written speech read by the chairman of the committee,
\nAzwar Anas at the opening ceremony of the national conference of
\nthe ruling Functional Group (Golkar), President Soeharto said
\nthat actually there was no power such as "undercurrents."
\nAccording to him, the moves represented by this terminology were
\nthe maneuvers of people who were just claiming to represent the
\nlower stream of society.<\/p>\n
The assumption is that the undercurrents issue, which has been
\nspreading freely in the Golkar body, must be exorcised because it
\nwill cause trouble for Golkar itself.<\/p>\n
Referring to the opening speech for the Golkar national
\nconference, there are three things we can observe:
\n* How we comprehend the undercurrents;
\n* How we comprehend politics as a result of the maneuvers;
\n* And how Golkar faces the `undercurrents' issue, that could
\ndisturb its membership so much that it will no longer be
\nIndonesia's largest political entity.<\/p>\n
In order not to be confused, we have to distinguish between
\nundercurrents and "undercurrents."<\/p>\n
The first is the stream of the people's aspiration, their
\nconscience, hope and the awareness of many incidents occurring
\nin society. In the early part of the current New Order era, these
\naspirations were known as the "message of the people's
\nsuffering."<\/p>\n
The more pronounced awareness of the public has resulted from
\nthe increasingly advanced level of the people's education and
\nwelfare, as well as greater access to information. As a
\nconsequence the people's awareness about democracy, human rights
\nand law also has expanded.<\/p>\n
IN line with this, the public is very concerned about the
\ncases of manipulation, collusion and corruption which involve
\ngovernment officials. Thus, the people have appealed to the
\ngovernment to enforce law equally for all Indonesian citizens,
\nwithout exception.<\/p>\n
The second reference to "undercurrents" has an artificial
\nmeaning, because it is engineered by certain groups of people and
\ndoes not reflect the public's interests.<\/p>\n
Therefore, Golkar must make sure it is capable of
\ndistinguishing between the two kinds of undercurrents in order to
\ntruly address the people's continuing suffering.<\/p>\n
--Pelita, Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/undercurrents-issue-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }