A feasible solution
A feasible solution
As the political tension in Indonesia escalates and the
plenary session of the House of Representatives (DPR) is around
the corner, as an ordinary citizen I would like to suggest the
following:
* Mr. Akbar Tandjung should resign as DPR's speaker. One of the
reasons is he is part of the New Order regime, which in the past
has had a very significant role. He held three ministerial posts
in the era of Soeharto i.e.: minister of youth and sports
affairs, minister of people's housing and state secretary. It is
too naive to presume that his current political moves have
nothing to do with efforts to protect his crony's sins,
specifically their acts of corruption.
* Mr. Amien Rais should resign as speaker of the People's
Consultative Assembly. Even though he is one of the so-called
reform heroes, his current political moves are heavily motivated
by greed for power and to some degree have caused unnecessary
political turmoil which of course has a negative impact on our
economic climate.
* Mr. Abdurrahman Wahid should likewise resign as President.
Because of his physical handicap and his resoluteness to defend
his political position, he has made some political compromises
with the New Order regime. In the end he has done nothing for
economic recovery or for law enforcement in this country. No one
has gone to jail for corruption, even Tommy who has been
sentenced to 18-months in prison, has been at large since
November last year.
* Mrs. Megawati Soekarnoputri should resign as Vice President.
Some of the President's authority has been delegated to her. Even
in the last few months she has presided over the cabinet meeting,
but so far no significant achievement has been demonstrated.
* Hold the general elections for direct election of President and
Vice President in one package, so the cooperation between the two
can be guaranteed as is the case in the USA. This general
election would be relatively cheaper compared to the general
elections for electing legislators. In this case there would be
no change in the legislature. This means that we still honor the
results of the 1999 general election.
M SULHAN ASKANDAR
Jakarta